Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky: Team Renegades
by XxRenegadeCiNosxX
Summary: On one day, unlike any other, 4 friends would be sucked into a world unlike their own... Where mysteries abound, friendships grow, and where the entirety of both worlds would be at stake... the world of Mystery Dungeon! Can these very 4 friends save their world as well as this one? FIND OUT! Random updates. Explosions are still planned, so no worries. YAY! :D :D
1. Chapter 1: Intro

On an ordinary day, just like any other...

Four friends would go through a journey to save a world far beyond their comprehension...

A world of mystery, danger and excitement...

Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon:  
Explorers of Sky  
Team Renegades

Episode 1: Dimensions and Guilds (Part 1)

Later that night, between the dimensions...

"DON'T LET GO! EVERYONE, HOLD ON!" I... can't... WAAAAAAAAHH!" "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! AAAGH, slipping..."

A few hours later...

A Pikachu was lying at the entrance to the World Abyss, and it seemed as if he was dead. Guildmaster Wigglytuff, seeing this strange sight, went over to investigate.

"Oh no! Friendly friend looks hurt! Maybe I should take him back with me... yeah, he needs help! Come on now..." said the Guildmaster.

"Mmph, five more minutes, mom..." said the Pikachu, half dazed.

The Guildmaster spotted something when he lifted the injured Pikachu. It was a box made of oak, slightly damaged. "It looks like this friend risked his life for this box... I'd better take that with me, too." The Guildmaster picked up the box and started back home...

About an hour later...

Diglett was on sentry duty again when he saw the Guildmaster's footsteps.

"Hurrah! The Guildmaster has returned!" Diglett yelled.

"WHAT! You see the GUILDMASTER!" said a loud voice from inside.

"Yes, I'm sure of it! There's no mistake to be made here!" responded Diglett.

"Then LET HIM IN!" yelled the voice from inside.

"Got it! Guildmaster, enter! Hmm? Wait, it looks as if he's carrying things..." said Diglett.

"Oh, bother, what is it this time?" said a different voice from inside.

"It looks like... uh oh, get the infirmary prepped, we got another live one!" yelled Diglett.

"WHAT! That's the FOURTH ONE this WEEK! What's going ON with the GUILDMASTER!" yelled the first voice.

"I don't know! Just prep the infirmary, the poor thing's still kicking!" yelled Diglett in return.

The Guildmaster stood there, waiting for the signal to enter, when, suddenly, the injured Pikachu awoke in an instant.

"WOOZAH! Uh- ahhhh, my head... what happened last night? Wait, wha-? HEY!" said the Pikachu, who then used Thundershock to free himself from his apparent captor, the Guildmaster.

"OUCH!" yelled the Guildmaster.

The Pikachu, now free from the Guildmaster's hold, instantly got on all fours, ready for a fight, when he started to look at his hands. "Whoa, what the-?" He looked back to see his tail. "WHAT THE! HOW THE! WHY THE? How did I get turned into a POKEMON!"

The Guildmaster looked confused. "Friendly friend hurt me? NOT FRIEND!" The Guildmaster looked angered, which shocked the Pikachu into a fighting stance.

Just then, a Riolu, a Totodile and a Piplup peered out from inside the cave, shocked at the sight of the Pikachu. Suddenly, the 3 Pokemon that just appeared surrounded that very Pikachu. "Ey! You stop that now, Guildmaster!" said the Totodile. Suddenly, the Pikachu looked as if the shock that the Guildmaster had given him had returned.

"WHAT THE! DAVID?" yelled the Pikachu, still shocked. "A-yup. How are you doing, Cameron?" said the Totodile in response, looking calm. "So, wait... the Piplup. He's got a derp face on him, so I assume that's..." started Cameron, who was interrupted by David, saying, "Jordan, yes." "CAMEROOOON!" yelled the Rilou with delight. "Hi, Tom. Can't believe I almost forgot that voice..." said Cameron with a look of annoyance on his face.

"Friendly friends?" whispered the Guildmaster, looking very sad. The entirety of Wigglytuff's Guild was right behind him. "Eh, we might be in trouble here, Cameron..." said David. "Well, YAH DON'T SAY? But I DO love a challenge..." said Cameron, who then stomped his foot and said, "BRING IT! I'M NOT SCARED OF ANY OF YOU!"

A Chatot stepped forward and challenged Cameron, saying, "Very well, if it's a fight you want, then A FIGHT YOU WILL GET! I'LL TAKE YOU ON!"

Cameron scoffed and then said, "Really? A Flying-Type? Even if you're more skilled, it's not by much. I've only been aware of this body for about 10 minutes, and I've mastered movements and skills in my new setting. There's not much chance you'll beat me."

Chatot looked angry, screaming, "OH YEAH? WE'LL SEE ABOUT THAT!"

FIGHT SCENE!

Chatot sped around at hyper-fast speeds, but Cameron managed to follow his movements without flinching. Chatot came in for the Aerial Ace, but Cameron managed to front flip over Chatot at the exact moment he struck, dodging the move by a mere second. Cameron then became surrounded in a flash of yellow, which then transferred as a yellow ball in his hand. Cameron chucked the ball at Chatot, hitting him dead on in the back. Chatot hit the ground face first, but managed to get back up. Cameron stared at his hand, awestruck at what he had done.

"Wow… that was… unnatural, but it could be useful." said Cameron, in awe at what he had done.

Chatot got back up, angrier than ever, yelling, "HOW DARE YOU! I'LL MAKE SURE YOU CAN'T FEEL ANYTHING FOR WEEKS!"

Cameron chuckled, then said, "Big talk from a walking barbeque. I'm surprised to see you still conscious after an attack like that. Although, you seem like a formidable opponent… shouldn't underestimate anyone, even if you're sure you can back it up. I respect you and your style, Chatot, but I think it's about time I ended this…"

Cameron started charging up energy, and as he was charging, he was leaving himself wide open. Chatot came in for an Aerial Ace, but when he touched the electric field, he got jolted from the energy surrounding Cameron, flinging him backwards a couple of steps. Chatot struggled to keep his bearings, but when he got up, the energy that surrounded Cameron had changed colors from yellow to blue, and it transferred to his hand in an instant. Cameron, looking fatigued, said, "You know… there's a time to restrain, and then, there's a time to go all out. GUESS WHICH ONE I'M AT RIGHT NOW, BIRD?" Cameron rushed at Chatot, a look of anger on his face. "YOU SHOULD'VE THOUGHT BEFORE CHALLENGING ME! THIS IS THE END FOR YOU!" Cameron yelled, and within a second, he had closed the distance between him and Chatot. "Take THIS! CHIDORI!"

Chatot braced himself for the attack, but was standing there for longer than he should've been. Chatot looked up, only to see none other than Dugtrio, coming to his aid.

"Well, then, maybe you should consider that Chatot's not alone in this fight, no? That attack could've KILLED him, what were you thinking?" Dugtrio said, looking slightly mad.

"DUGTRIO! WHAT DID YOU DO?" Chatot screamed, looking at his boiling point.

"Well, I don't know, I was just in the neighborhood, and I tho- I JUST SAVED YOUR LIFE, ***HOLE! WHAT THE **** DO YOU THINK?" Dugtrio yelled back, obviously angered at Chatot's sudden outburst.

"HEY! Hold your horses, what up with the sudden anger management issues? Looks like there are some problems with your guild, Guildmaster…" said Cameron, looking slightly annoyed.

"Stop! No more!" said the Guildmaster, crying.

"WHOA! HEY! Hold the fight, we got a situation here!" said Tom, rushing to the Guildmaster.

The Guildmaster had broken down crying during the fight becaust of the violence. Cameron felt bad for the Guildmaster, so he told him, "Guildmaster, sorry for fighting Chatot, I just got a little excited. Never got the chance to fight a good opponent before, so I got carried away. No hard feelings, Chatot, but for next time, remember your strengths and weaknesses before going into battle, mmkay?"

Chatot, being a little concerned for the Guildmaster, responded with, "Right, sorry about that. I was, basically, the one in charge for the Guildmaster while he was away, and I don't take kindly to anyone attacking my allies. Got a bit carried away there, didn't I? Ehehe..."

"Meh, wouldn't stop at a little bit, but I did get more carried away with the battle... yeah, apology accepted." said Cameron.

"I'll try to remember not to pick a fight with you next time, that was brutal! How did you get so skilled, and what were those moves? I've never seen a Pikachu before, let alone those kinds of Electric-Type moves before..." asked Chatot, remembering the yellow ball and the Chidori that almost took his life.

"Well, the first one? Your guess is as good as mine, but I'd call that one the Shock Bomb. Second one is a move I remember seeing, and it's called the Chidori. I kinda can't believe that one didn't make me faint, I put a lot of energy into it. Felt light headed afterwards, but I think I'm alriiiiiii..." started Cameron, but fainted before he could finish. He landed with a THUD in front of the Guildmaster, who said, "He's hurt! Let's help him!" The entirety of the guild, along with Tom, David and Jordan, said "YEAH!" Tom picked Cameron up from the fron while David got the rear. Jordan picked up his tail so it wouldn't drag. As soon as they got to the infirmary, they laid Cameron down to rest. Cameron curled up into a ball a began to sleep...

So, RenegadeCiNos here (and, YES, my real name is Cameron, if you haven't seen my Profile Bio yet, odds are you're probably not that bright...). First story is (no doubt) gonna be a Pokemon series starring some good friends (Tom's FanFiction account name is tomhur and David's is Reginald Edgarson. Jordan's working on getting one...) who I know and trust. (Took forever to get Tom to say yes, though...) I am not accepting submissions (except from 9V F0XB0X, if he wants in), but I might later on, so keep your eyes peeled. I will say right now, though, that this series will be slightly different from the actual EoS storyline. (As in some unexpected suprises and twists that wasn't in the game, plus some RELATIONSHIP DRAMA BOMBS! {Somewhat evil, yes, but I am a man of compromise} Also, EXPLOSIONS!) With that said, this is RenegadeCiNos, signing off. PEEEEEACE!


	2. Chapter 2: Wigglytuff's Guild

**Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky: Team Renegades**

Episode 2: Searching for Jordan

The sun was high in the sky, and the Guild's infirmary had an open skylight for telling time, however it worked. Cameron, being curled into a ball for more than 8 hours, started to remember how him and his friends got here in the first place, but was awoken with a start when the light hit his face.

"GYAAH! Uhh... what happened last night?" grunted Cameron, still half-dazed. Tom was at his right and David to his left, but Jordan was nowhere to be found. "Hey, anyone know where Jordan went?" grunted Cameron once more.

"Eh, I think he said something about a... beach? There's, uh, one not too far from here. Why, is something the matter?" was David's response.

"Thing is, if he gets too far, I'm responsible for him and... well, all of us, actually. I don't want anyone getting hurt." said Cameron.

"Well, he seemed alright when we talked before he left, but I don't know! He seemed in some sort of a rush to get there..." interrupted Tom, looking anxious.

"No. NO. NO NO NO NO NO! I do NOT like the look in Tom's face! We need to ge aft- AGGH! Uhh... great, still too weak... guys, go after him! Make sure he's well and good for me, 'kay?" whispered Cameron, still far too damaged to move.

"Alright, then. Tom, we're off!" shouted David with excitement in his voice.

"YEAH!" yelled Tom, then he and David left the infirmary, taking a right.

"Uhh... whelp, should try to drag behind. No use in staying here for an eternity. Let's see now, up I go... UHHHHHHHHH... ahh, there. Better hurry, or I might lose them." muttered Cameron, now standing on his feet. He walked out of the infirmary, then took a right into the main hall. It was full of Guild Members, all well within their training.

"Huh. Strict training methods. Looks like this could be good to stay here as a Team with the others... alright! There's a ladder!" yelled Cameron, posing like a statue, his right arm extended in the direction of the ladder to the top. He ran past the group and started to climb, but he felt pain and, after struggling to attempt a climb, gave up after the 2'nd step.

"Oh great... NOW what am I gonna do? I suppose I could try and use my speed to climb, but that might be a stretch in my condition..." whispered Cameron, pondering his options.

"Hey, why not use my hidden entrance?" said Chatot, coming up from behind.

"HYUH! GOD, you scared me. But thanks for the protip. Say, where is this hidden entrance? I need to catch up with my fr- WHAAAAH!" started Cameron, who was interrupted by Loudred picking him up. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" he yelled.

Loudred smirked, then said, "Hope you can FLY!" Using Strength, Loudred chucked Cameron at a hole in the ceiling.

"OH GOD, WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY YYYyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy ..." was all Cameron could respond before being chucked. Luckily, Cameron's natural instincts as a Pikachu kicked in, and he managed to grab something before being hurtled into space. Grabbing the edge of the tube, Cameron curled up into a ball shape and rolled down the giant Wigglytuf shrine, sustaining no damage except from the small impacts he had on the shrine and the THUD when he hit the ground.

"Ohhhhhh, that Loudred is SOOOOOOOOOO GONNA- oh, hey, that must be the entrace." responded Cameron after being flung. "Nice cave. Alright, which way... OH GOD. STARS! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" was his scream after seeing the flight of stairs.

Back at the beach...

Tom and David had already reached the beach where Jordan had ran off to and was searching around for some clue as to where Jordan went, when, suddenly, Tom spotted something.

"Hey, David! Come over here, quick!" yelled Tom.

David rushed to Tom, then asked, "Ey, what's the big idea?"

Tom picked up the strange item with his hands (or paws. I don't know, and I don't care). "What do you think it could be?" aked Tom, in wonder about the mysterious object, which was a carved stone that looked like it had been broken off of a wall.

David looked at the stone for about 10 seconds, then replied, "Ehhh... I really couldn't tell ya to save my life, but it looks important. I say we keep it."

"Done." was all Tom said in agreement.

"Hmm, these tracks look familiar... HEY! Those are PIPLUP tracks! And they look to be heading in the direction of that cave... Let's go after Jordan, Tom!" yelled David with enthusiasm.

"YEAH!" was the instant reply from Tom, and the two set off running for the Beach Cave.

Back at the Guild...

Cameron had just finished climbing down the stairs, trying not to trip with each stair. "Whew! Finally got down. Now, let's see here... AHA! A SIGN! Of relief. HAHA! Made a joke... good one, Cameron... good one..." was Cameron's joyful response to his success of climbing down the stairs. (Pretty modern for a world of only Pokemon. Wonder how those stairs got there?) "Well, let's take a look at this sign, shall we? Let's see here... Oh! Beach is straight ahead, not far at all. Huh... guess that was a cakewalk. Which always means bad news. OFF TO THE BEACH!" Cameron yelled before darting for the beach.

Inside the Beach Cave...

Tom and David are wandering aimlessly around the Mystery Dungeon, searching for a way to go lower. Just then, they reached some stairs! "Hey, Tom! I found some stairs!" yelled David from the hadd he and tom had come from, but Tom gave no reply. "Eh... Tom? Oh NO..." yelped David with anxiety. 'Tom must've gotten lost! I gotta go after him!' thought David, worry now starting to slow him down.

Tom, however, was luckily not that far behind, and the two ran into eachother midway into the hallway. "DAVID! You said you found some stairs? DO THEY GET US OUT OF HERE? PLEASE TELL ME THEY GO UP!" yelled Tom in a panic.

"Eh, no, they go lower into the Dungeon. Sorry about that..." was David's calm, collected rsponse.

Tom knelt down onto the wet floor of the Dungeon and yelled, "NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

A voice from just inside the hall said, "Tom, that means we're closer to getting out of here. Can't quite tackle a Mystery Dungeon if you want OUT of the Mystery Dungeon, can ya?"

Both Tom and David looked down the hall to see where the voice was. Tom looked scared out of his wits as if he was going to take a dump right in the cave, but David knew with 100% assurance with whom the voice belonged to. "Hey, Cameron. Got tired of sleeping on us?" was his response into the shadows.

Cameron stepped from the shadows, then cocked a grin and said, "Heh, can't always be lazy, right? Gotta step up my game now that the future is uncertain. And that means getting off my new lazy butt and helping out, even when the going gets tough. Besides, this is a cave of mainly Water-Types- I'm pretty much in my element here. Can't get too comfy- only got Thundershock to go on. Dangerous to use charge attacks in here..." was what Cameron finished with, a look of grimace on his face.

"Well, back to more pressing matters... let's keep moving down." was David's interjection, a serious look on his face. In unison, Tom and Cameron (respectively) say, in unison, "Let's GO!" and Let's move out!" But then, Cameron chimed in with, "Wait, what about a Team Name? I was figuring that if we're gonna be here awhile, we might as well be a team. But we can worry about that later, I guess... right now, we need to get to Jordan, who knows where he could be..."

At the Beach Cave Pit...

"OUCH!"

Jordan was in a fight with a rouge Koffing and Zubat, and it seemed he was at a disadvantage against this tag team combo that his opponents were doing.

"Now, we're gonna ask one more time... where did you put that rock? We're not gonna ask again..." whispered the Zubat with a hint of anger in his voice.

"I don't know! I just saw it and... and... I don't even think I picked it up! I'M SORRY!" yelled Jordan with hurt in his voice.

"WHERE IS IT? TELL US!" yelled the Koffing, looking ready to blow.

Suddenly, a voice that fills the room with a piercing chill yells, "PUT HIM DOWN OR I'LL TAKE YOU DOWN! AS IN 6 FEET UNDERGROUND!"

An enraged Cameron, an anxious Tom and a calm David stepped forward.

"Ahh, so it seems that you brought friends..." Zubat started, and upon seeing the Relic Fragment, finished with, "Oh, and I see they brought what we were looking for right to us!"

Zubat, despite his small body, flung Jordan towards the wall. Jordan's impact reverbrated throughout the entire pit, which resulted in Jordan faintin from the lack of energe he exhausted trying to fend off Zubat and Koffing.

Cameron, who had looked angry before, now had a look of pure rage on his face. "You're going to regret that... team, let's get 'em." David and Tom got right behind Cameron, who was still standing there on his legs, unnerved and unmoving.

FIGHT SCENE! (Yes, fight scene in Episode 2...)

In a flash of white, Cameron disappeared without a trace. Zubat and Koffing, seeing it as an act of cowardice, charged towards Tom, who braced himself, but David intervened with some quick thinking and a well-timed Aqua Jet. Zubat managed to dodge the attack, but Koffing got hit dead on his left side, sending him flying. Zubat prepared to strike down Tom again, but was stopped by something grabbing his back. He turned his head and focused, only to find out it was none other than Cameron, looking calm, unlike only a minute before. "Gotcha." Cameron whispered before grinning and using Thundershock to knock out Zubat. He then charged up with a flash of yellow, transferred it to his hand and threw a Shock Bomb at the area where Koffing had landed after David's Aqua Jet, sending an electric malestrom upon impact to light up the area.

Seeing as if all was well, Cameron breathed a sigh of relief. David had used a bit of his energy on the Aqua Jet, but was otherwise unharmed. Tom was just standing there, taking it all in, but Jordan was heavily injured, fainting before the battle even started. The others walked over to Jordan, hoping to see him still breathing, but Cameron already knew that Jordan was going to make it, thanks to his enhanced sense of hearing.

"Let's pick him up and take him back to the Guild. He'll need a lot of rest..." was all Cameron could manage to muster. He picked Jordan up by the legs while Tom picked him up by the flippers. Tom and Cameron followed David as they made their way out of the cave...

So, Episode 2's done. Wow, can't believe that this took about half a day. Putting effort into making it original, yet story-based. Will update usually throughout the weekends, but always keep coming back for random updates. Peace, bros.


	3. Chapter 3: Team Renegades, MOVE OUT!

**Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky: Team Renegades****  
**Episode 3: Team Renegades, MOVE OUT!

Jordan started to stir after a while, but couldn't get up from whatever he was laying on. "Urr... what happened?" was all he could manage to whisper.

Cameron hadn't left his side since they had brought him back, but he took catnaps whenever he felt tired. He was awake now, bruised and dirty, but awake nontheless. He had looked as if he had seen better days, but he looked tired, despite the fact that he was wide awake. "Well, looks like the bird with no wings finally decided to wake up. Tell me, on what state of mind did you think it was ok to go alone into a Mystery Dungeon by yourself? What were you thinking? You could've been killed..."

After Camreon had finished, he took his back off of the wall and started for the hallway. "Be careful, we don't know what this world is capable of. You can't go rushing off without a plan. Be smart and remember to watch your back..." he said, then walked out, leaving Jordan to think about what he had done.

Climbing up the stairs, Cameron went out of the cave opening for the entrance to the Guild. He felt off, but it felt strangely good for some reason. After climbing down the stairs for the hill, he swung a left and proceeded out of Treasure Town. Following his Pikachu instincts, Cameron set off for Amp Plains...

As soon as Cameron had reached the Amp Plains, he began his descent into the Mystery Dungeon. It had seemed as if he was looking for something, and he was determined to find it. Searching every inch, Cameron did not stop for anything, not even the wild Pokemon that attacked him within every inch of the Plains Dungeon. At last, after clearing his search in the Amp Plains and reaching the Far Amp Plains Dungeon and clearing that, Cameron had made it to the Amp Plains Clearing. Unfortunately, he was being tailed by an Electrike the entire way there without it being noticed by him, so he was unprepared for an ambush. Or so their leader, Manectric, thought, because as soon as the entirety of their group attempted an ambush on Cameron, he dodged it with little effort and started K. them, one by one. Manectric ordered a regroup, but all of his Electrike followers had been K.O'ed, so he was alone.

"What the...? What ARE you?" yelled the Manectric in shock.

"Just a traveler. You know, it's not nice to attack people who're just passing by. You didn't even say hi beforehand, you just charged me. I can sense your electricity, so it wasn't hard to keep track of your followers, let alone you. Next time, remember not to attack something that's prepared, mmkay?" was Cameron's drawn out, lengthy (and somewhat boring) response.

"You think you can take me, but you're blind to my true power. I could crush you easily!" growled Manectric in anger.

"So? Let's just take a look at this so called "true power" of yours. I'm curious. Come at me, bro." came the mocking response from Cameron.

"DON'T MOCK ME!" yelled Manectric, who then rushed straight for Cameron with a Volt Tackle.

It seemed as if Manectric hit Cameron at first, but he had missed due to a well-timed last second dodge from Cameron, who then threw his signature Shock Bomb at Manectric, nailing him in the back of the head. Manectric struggled to get on his feet, but Cameron came back in with another well-timed Shock Bomb, this time hitting Manectric in the hind legs. Manectric could only cry out in pain as the feeling in his legs left him, and when he opened his eyes, Cameron was right in his face. He let out a yelp of suprise and leapt back a foot or 2.

"Had enough? 'Cause you don't look so well... probably could've avoided all of this if you hadn't attacked me for no reason." mumbled Cameron, a hint of annoyance in his tone.

"You... you tread on sacred land... yet you fear no sort of attack? Have you no fear!?" asked Manectric, a little scared.

"Well, when there's not many threats to worry about, you kinda let down your guard. I only sensed you and your followers when I reached the Clearing, but I had no idea about the one you sent to follow me. I will say this, however: you're right about me going mad. I really didn't fear an ambush when I felt your presence, but I'm too weak to continue. I've just come in here looking for something..." was Cameron's calm response.

"Very well, if you truly mean no harm, I can accomodate you for troubling you and wasting your time. What is it you seek, friendly traveler?" cooed Manectric in a calm voice.

"Just for information. I was told by someone of a "location where one can have infinite power." You wouldn't happen to know anything about that... would you?" asked Cameron, his voice now filled with joy.

"...you... seek the Dimension Gate to the Reversed Distortion World... but why? Any and all Pokemon who step foot in that place are said to never return... why would you risk it?" was Manectric's chilling response.

"The Reversed Distortion World, huh... that sounds interesting. I'll ask someone else if the thought scares you. Thank you for the information, though..." came the unexpected answer from Cameron, who then turned and started to leave.

Manectric could only stare at the brave Pikachu and think, "Young fool... why would you tempt death? Entering that place will only end in demise... I shouldn't have told him anything. I fear for someone I've never met, yet it's as if I also care for him like a brother."

Cameron, during his leave, thinks to himself, "Nice bunch. Seems like they'll be just fine, but that Manectric... he seems to care for me a lot more than what he lets on... and if he truly thought that I was doomed from the start, he would've kept his mouth shut about the Reversed Distortion World... reminds me a bit of my bro back home...", then lets out a sigh and says under his breath, "...home..."

Back at the Guild...

Tom, David and Jordan were all at the entrance to the inside of the Guild. Jordan got up and was prepared to go back inside the guild, but Cameron showed up at that exact moment. Jordan, however, proceeded inside anyway, but David and Jordan were happy to see their friend back safe and sound.  
u8232 "Cameron! Are you ok? You look like... well... you look like-" Tom started, but was interrupted by David, who started to interject with, "Hey, let's leave him be. If he wants to talk about it-", but, as luck would have it, Cameron piped up with, "Actually, I was looking for a specific piece of information. One that might get us back home, in fact. Unless you guys would rather us, of, I don't know, stay here forever?"

Jaws dropped to the floor. Tom was spattering out incoherent babble, David looked dumbfounded and Jordan has his head cocked to the side, jaw still dropped. Cameron stared at them, looking quite satisfied at this result.

Tom managed to regain his composure, but was still somewhat in shock, as he managed to shout, "HOW!?"

Cameron immediately punched Tom in the gut, apparently as a punishment for his sudden outburst. "Keep it down! I don't want us to be heard just in case we have some uninvited guests... also, sorry about the gut punch. I had to deal with a Manectric that was so rude, he sent Electrikes to attack me. Had a BIIIT of pent-up aggression there, I apologize for that."

David, however, was now fully composed, and he clearly said, "So, uh... how DO you suppose we get home? It's not like there's a portal leaping out in front of us with the words, 'HEY! Free ticket back home here! Hop in!', is there?"

A flash of yellow smacked David in the face, and when he recovered, he felt pain in the middle of his chest and neck region. Cameron had smacked him with his tail and grabbed him in the 3 seconds that David was somewhat unaware of his surroundings.

"Apparently, I was unclear of my prevoius order. KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN. GEEZUS..." was a maddened Cameron's cry of anger towards the now frightened David.

Jordan said nothing, but Cameron smacked him in the face with his hands. "HEY! WHat was-" Jordan started, but was interrupted by Cameron saying, "You really didn't deserve it, but it was so you didn't feel left out. Consider yourself lucky that I only slapped you in the face, because I am capable of FAR worse..."

Tom, now recovering from the gut punch, tried to Force Palm Cameron in the back, but he missed due to Cameron expertly dodging the move, and it ended up hitting Jordan instead. David attempted to stop Tom from doing more damage, but ended up taking another one of Tom's Force Palms, which made him snap and attack Tom with a Bite. Cameron, however, was still up, and he managed to hit Tom and David with one Thundershock. They instantly stopped their attacks and fell, fainted. Jordan had been hit in the skull with Tom's Force Palm and was unconscious, the area where he got hit bleeding. Cameron had only seconds before Jordan went into a coma, or worse, so he decided to lay Jordan on the ground, careful not to move too fast for fear of killing his friend. When jordan was completely on the ground, Cameron raced inside the Guild and took some bandages from the infirmary. Nobody even noticed.

In just the nick of time, Cameron had applied the bandage to Jordan wound. He would survive... but he needed rest. Tom and David would wake up eventually, but they were out for now. Cameron put them all back in the main hall of the Guild, then went into the Guildmaster's Chamber...

3 hours later...

Tom woke up, rubbing his back. A Totodile impression in the ground and an unconscious Jordan with a head dressing reminded him of what had happened before being knocked unconscious himself. Cameron, however, had just appeared from the Guildmaster's Chamber, holding some unusual gear: 4 stone Pokeballs with wings attached to them, 4 messenger bags, 4 scarves, all dyed purple and a roll of parchment. Tom walked over, curious as to what Cameron was up to and, secretly, hoping for some payback.

Cameron spotted Tom walking over through the corner of his eye and said, "Try something, Tom, and you'll be out for SIX hours THIS time." Tom immediately dropped revenge for a later time and, trying to be completely sly, responded, "PSSH! Whaaaat? Du- nawwwwwwwww... I got up and wanted to know what you had in your hands there..."

Cameron, noticing Tom's curious look, managed to grunt out while lifting the items, "UGH! This is our Exploration Team Gear. Standard stuff; Explorer Badges, Explorer Bags, Team Scarves for easy ID and an official dossier stating our untiy as a team. If you could be so kind as to wake up David and Jordan in a bit, I'll hand out the gear and we can search for jobs to do on the Job Listings. And then everything will be all good and dandy." He then went off into a hallway, only to reappear several minutes later with a set of the Gear being worn by himself and the rest in tow.

After Jordan recovered from his head injuries, Tom had already been handed his gear and quickly donned it. David had just finished stowing his badge in the Pack he had been given when Jordan started walking around. He later was back up to full strength, now being handed his set of items by Cameron.

With all of the gear handed out, Tom anxiously asked, "So, what's our team name!?"

To that avail, David interjected before Cameron could even start. "I think I can assume that one. Eh, it wouldn't be, perhaps, that our Team Name is Team Renegades, correct?"

Cameron just stood there, dumbfounded. After a couple seconds of akward silence, Cameron replied, "...I SWEAR that David somehow got mind-reading abilities during our little excursion into this world, because he just read mine. Dude... SO CLUUUUUUUUTCH."

Tom and Jordan looked at a now beaming with pride David, both looking as dumbfounded as Cameron. Jordan then randomly yelled, "MONGOLI!" Cameron and David both looked at eachother, then got into a debate on what the plural form of mongoose was. David sad monGEESE, but Cameron sided with Jordan and said monGOLI. Eventually, Tom decided to break up the fighting by punching both Cameron and David in their heads. It sent them to the floor, but Tom hadn't put a lot of effort into it, as both David and Cameron were up in a matter of seconds, rubbing the back of their heads.

"Well, now that Tom's defused that situation before it got out of hand, why don't we try looking for a job on the Job Listings. I suggest we head for the easiest ones before we get ourselves into a load of hurt. Remember, we need to be careful about what we get ourselves into. Think of all of this as a chance to learn about yourself and what you can do to improve." was Cameron's cool, calmly statement.

After that, the team looked at the Job Listing board. Jordan considered a 3* Mission, but Cameron immediately smacked him for just looking at it. "Jordaaaan... what did I say? No hard as butt missions." was Cameron's, once again, calm statement before going back to look at the board. David, however, was on top of his game, because he spotted an easy mission to complete. There was a wanted poster for a rogue Drowzee, and the payout was tremendous for a mission of its caliber. Cameron, however, thought of why the pay was so high if the Pokemon wanted for capture was such a low ranking criminal, no more than a common thief. He banished the thought into his mind as an afterthought for later, then said, "Alright. This Drowzee's our first team Mission. We need to be careful, so let's get ready. Team Renegades...", with everyone else joining him in yelling, "MOVE OUT!"

Wow, I am slow at writing. It took me the entire Christmas break for Episode 3? F***ING procrastination... anyways, done with this Episode. So, uh... yeah. Poo. CiNos out...

*EDIT* - Made a mistake up with one of Manectric's sentences. Sorry about that. Edited on Feb. 9, 2013.


	4. Chapter 4: The First Mission

**Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky: Team Renegades**

Episode 4: The First Mission

After realizing that they had no items to help them with their task, Team Renegades headed into Treasure Town to buy some supplies with the 1000 Poke that the Guild had given them to start out with. Asking the locals for directions, they quickly made their way to the Kecleon Shop for some well needed items. At least, that WAS the plan...

Oran Berries topped the list, but Tom spotted a nifty TM Disc that contained Focus Blast. Cameron spotted the Disc himself and thought about it for a second. Was the power tradeoff worth the extremely low PP and horrible accuracy? Obviously not, because Cameron then told Tom, "No." Tom started to complain, but Cameron just said "No" again. That stopped Tom from asking about Focus Blast, but he then spotted a Thunderbolt TM Disc, grabbed Cameron by the arm and pointed at it. Cameron's eyes had a glow of inspiration, so Tom said, "NO." just to have some payback, but Cameron instantly looked at Tom. "It has increased power, a good amount of PP and perfect accuracy. It's at least worth inquiring about." Cameron then looked at the younger of the 2 Kecleons, the younger of the pair. He was a Shiny Kecleon, as noted by his purple coloring, while his older brother was normal, with green coloring.

"Ah! Yes, I saw you and your friend eyeing some of my wares. Perhaps you'd like to look at them?" cooed the Shiny Kecleon.

Tom and Cameron both started to reject that proposal, but the Kecleon brothers insisted. The younger brother handed Tom the Focus Blast disc, while Cameron got the Thunderbolt disc handed to him moments later. the instant the discs toucher their hands, both friends had recieved a sense of dizziness and nausea, accompanied by headaches. Cameron appeared as if he had been attacked, but in his mind, he heard a commanding voice yell, "HURRY IT UP! OR DO I HAVE TO USE FORCE AGAIN!?" Another, obviously terrified voice, cried, "H-h-HELP!", then he came to, head pounding and sweating profusely. He took deep breaths and noticed Tom doing the same, obviously and coincidentally sharing the same moment of shock. Peering over at Tom, all he could do was think about how hard it was for him, considering he was a Steel/Fighting Type. Somehow, Cameron's Pokemon body was built specifically to take and dish out damage either way, but Tom's body was completely unprepared for special attacks, making whatever had happened to the 2 of them seem worse to Tom. Cameron, however, managed to shrug it off and recollect himself, only to see David, Jordan and the Kecleon brothers staring at him and Tom with complete shock. A couple of bystanders, including a Marill in particular, had stopped to look at this scene.

Cameron nudged at Tom and asked, "Hey, you ok? What just happened?"

All Tom could do was grunt in pain. Cameron decided to ask for the Focus Blast disc to make Tom feel better somehow, but the Kecleon brothers insisted on letting both of them keep their respective discs ("Oh no! We insist!" said the brothers in unison). Cameron attempted to learn Thunderbolt through some sort of mental telepathy trick, to no avail (OHHHHHHHHHHH, BIG SHOCKER).

Tom, however, knew how to, in a sense, "install" the data conatined in the disc into his memory. He put the disc on his forehead and concentrated on the data within. It flooded his senses, and a moment later, Tom had learned Focus Blast.

Cameron, apparently following by example, did the same thing, allowing the data on Thunderbolt to be absorbed into his mind. It was an electric jolt to his nervous system adjusting for a higher voltage output, and in moments, Cameron had learned Thunderbolt. Tom wanted to try out Focus Blast, but Cameron reminded him of where they were, and Tom held off on it for the moment.

Focusing on the task at hand, and finally snapping David and Jordan to, Team Renegades purchased supplies for their trip. They had stocked up on Oran Berries and grabbed a Reviver Seed for each person. After looking at the location for the job, which was the apprehension of a rogue Drowzee in Mt. Bristle for capturing the young brother of none other than...

"...that Marill... it can only be..." was all Cameron murmured before snapping to attention like a soldier and focusing on that memory flash he and Tom had earlier, only to discover that he was becoming increasingly dizzy the more he focused on it. Finally, after what seemed as if Cameron would pass out from the heavy concentration, he snapped again, this time with a look of shock on his face like before, and he was, as it appeared to him, right in the middle of a mountainous clearing, with a Drowzee and an Azurill right in front of him.

The Azurill looked so frightened, all thanks to the Drowzee right behind him. The Drowzee just kept yelling for Azurill to go into a hole for a treasure.

"HURRY IT UP! OR DO I HAVE TO USE FORCE AGAIN!?" was the shout of Drowzee, outwardly angered.

Cameron's brain labored to make the connection. When he made it, he checked and rechecked. There was no mistaking it. This was the Drowzee that he and his team were after.

"H-h-HELP!" was all Azurill could yell.

Cameron's face twisted into that of shock, then into one of outright rage. He charged up a Chidori and attempted to attack Drowzee, but his hand passed through and the attack went completely wasted. Looking to his left, he saw an opening that led down to the rest of the mountain. All he saw coming up, however, were 4 flashes of purple beftore he was, in a sense, booted from the memory...

Cameron started to stir after a while. After watching him focus on something that they couldn't watch, he snapped, then passed out. Watching him for the past 5 minutes, it seemed as if he might have died, but when he came to, Tom, Jordan and David rushed to his aid. Asking if he was alright, Cameron gave them the response, "Fine. Just fine. Let's go, quickly, before it's too late..."

After some initial travel, Team Renegades arrives at Mt. Bristle. From there, they started their perilous climb. During their climb, the team had experienced tons of wild Pokemon (all of which attacked on sight), found more items (another Oran Berry and a Reviser Seed) and gained experience (Cameron took charge and dished out the most damage, but David got the most EXP with Jordan and Tom not that far off, and Cameron bringing up the rear).

Suddenly, Cameron heard a cry for help from the Azurill. This made him rush to each staircase, OHKO'ing every Pokemon that impeded his progress. Suddenly, he heard Drowzee yell and Azurill cry for help again. Making it to Mt. Bristle's summit was no small feat, because as soon as Cameron found the stairs that led to it, he felt dead dog tired. Realizing that Azurill's safety was on the line, he reenergized and pushed on.

Climbing up the stairs, Cameron prepared to confront the Drowzee. He realized that if he wanted to turn the tide in his favor, he'd have to use stealth. It was also good measure that Drowzee was completely focused on Azurill, making it easier to get into position without worry of being exposed. He saw 3 flashes of purple and motioned for his team to hide elsewhere, then continued to a point in the wall where he could hide.

Creeping along the wall, he had found a good position to hide, so he waited until Drowzee was about to strike Azurill for prolonging his apparent crowning moment, charged a Shock Bomb and sent it at Drowzee. Unfortunately, Drowzee felt the static shock in the air as the Shock Bomb got closer, and he managed to dodge, the Shock Bomb missing him by mere centimeters. Cameron cursed under his breath for his lack of having a decent enough aiming solution for his Special Move, and chose that moment to abandon stealth and attack Drowzee head on with a Chidori. He paid for his blind fury, as Drowzee attacked him using Confusion Luckily, he served as a distraction while Tom, on the opposite end of the wall, charged his Focus Blast and prepared to take aim at Drowzee. It would have to be dead on, or Cameron might not have a chance at escaping. Even luckier was the fact that David and Jordan jumped Drowzee at the exact moment Tom fired the Focus Blast, and the aim couldn't have been more perfect. David and Jordan saw the attack and backed up from the blast, but everyone took damage from it except Tom, who passed out from the effort. Drowzee was in the epicenter of the blast, so he took the main brunt of the blow. Cameron, already in a state of hurt from Drowzee's Confusion attack from moments before, was mostly protected by Drowzee, but still took quite a punch, as he was flung to a wall and impacted with a _wham _before landing on the ground with a _thud_. David and Jordan suffered similar fates, but as to them being a bit further away, the damage wasn't as bad when compared to Cameron. Just as soon as the battle had started, it was over, and, miraculously, Cameron was the only Pokemon in the clearing still standing. The impact from being flung awoke him with a snap, and he managed to get on his feet, despite being mentally and physically tortured.

Walking over to Azurill, Cameron felt that he was going to pass out at any moment, but he needed to keep the little guy safe while the authorities were coming. "You... Azurill, right?" was all Cameron managed to stutter in his state of half-conciousness.

"Uhh... are you ok?" came a suprised yelp from Azurill, still in awe and wonder of how Cameron managed to stay conscious, let alone standing.

"I... me and my team... came for you. Did that... Drowzee hurt you? Are you alright?" was Cameron's reply to Azurill, leaving the young Pokemon's question unanswered.

"Well, other than having my ear nearly yelled off, I'm fine. He just took me here and asked me to go into that small hole over there, or else..." was Azurill's response, pointing over to the hole as he mentioned it.

"Get... behind me... and shake me if either Drowzee gets up or the police show up." murmured Cameron, who then slipped into sleep...

Episode 4... ugh, procrastination is making me very mad. I need to find solutions to stop it... otherwise, this is gonna take forever. Anyways, now that I have it out of the way, I'll get started on Episode 5. CiNos OUT!


	5. Chapter 5: Fateful Encounters

**Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky: Team Renegades**

Episode 5: Fateful Encounters

After feeling a gentle shake, Cameron remembered the promise he had made to Azurill and awoke with a start, ready for combat, only to find Drowzee surrounded by 2 Magnemites and a Magneton. Tom, David and Jordan had all recovered and as soon as Cameron opened his eyes, they cheered. Still hurt from the battle, but well rested, Cameron started walking towards his friends, but soon felt lightheaded and nearly passed out. He fell to the floor, but his combat instincts kicked in for a fraction of a second, and he managed a sweet recovery.

"BZZT! You have suffered an extreme amount of damage fighting Drowzee, but that is to be expected from a Pokemon who had 5 less levels than his opponent. Even with your team, your odds of victory were somewhat slim. BZZT!" said Magneton.

Cameron personally took that as an insult, but let it slide and acted as it didn't happen. All he replied was, "What'll happen to Mr. Brain Games here? As in, what you have planned for him, of course."

The next voice to speak was Magnemite, who interjected before Magneton could reply with, "BZZT! This criminal will be locked away for quite some time. Our squads, streched very thin around the world, make sure to keep criminals under lock and key. BZZT! We haven't had an incident where one escaped for quite some time, and we do our best to prevent such accidents from occuring. This one here will be introduced to his natural enemy- a Dark-Type Pokemon we can trust. BZZT!"

Cameron wondered what kind of Dark-Type would be used. The idea of keeping the Drowzee under wraps himself, however, sounded appealing. After all the trouble that him and his team went through to get here, and after being nearly beaten by Drowzee, it would serve to ease Cameron's fears to stop this criminal from getting back to taking other Pokemon hostage. It eased his fears, but didn't erase them.

"So, buddy, what should we do now? We could explore around the world, then mabye-" Tom started, but Cameron made a cutting motion with his hand on his throat and made a "KRRRRRRRK" sound. Tom stopped dead quiet midsentence.

"We're going back to the Guild. We've been forged into a team, and for now, that's gonna be our base of operations. I need to rest, and I'm pretty sure that everyone here is worn out, too. I'm suprised Tom got up before me, let alone conscious right now. I think we've deserved some R&R for the moment. We'll look around tomorrow, but for now, we're going straight back to the guild..."

Wtih that said, Team Renegades went back to Treasure Town and to the Guild. Cameron, for the first time, got to see that he had erroneously mistaken the Guild's Entrance for a cave. Upon closer inspection, it was a tent made to look like Wigglytuff, only larger. Making a mental note of this, Cameron decided not to think about his lack of sight during the first day, as he had no doubt been stressed out. 'Becoming a Pokemon must've been more difficult than I thought...' thought Cameron as he and his team descended down the ladder to the Guild interior.

Later, Chatot summoned Team Renegades for a daily summary. After a lot of chatter from Chatot (that was pretty unnecessary), he went on to state the details of the mission.

"...wow. I am quite suprised, Team Renegades, your first mission was quite a success! I've collected the bounty placed on Drowzee's head!"

The bounty placed on his head was quite large, amounting to 3,000 Poke. However, the Guild got most of it, leaving Team Renegades with only...

"...300 POKE!?" yelled Tom, David and Jordan in unison.

"Really? That's only 10% of the total bounty. I really don't think that's very fair..." muttered Cameron as calm as he could manage.

"Well, consider this: If it wasn't for us, you wouldn't be a Explorer Team, now, would you?" replied Chatot.

"Hmm, I guess so. Also, we get to live here and, hopefully, eat here?" asked Cameron.

Suddenly, as if on cue with his words, Cameron's stomach growled ferociously.

"And there it goes! CALLED IT!" exclaimed Cameron with annoyance visible through his body language.

The rest of the team's stomachs followed suit instantly. After that, they all burst out laughing.

Later, all of the Guild was summoned to what Team Renegades knew as a Mess Hall, where there was...

"FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!" yelled Cameron with absolute glee.

Everyone turned to stare. Cameron just stood there with hands up in the air, happy as can be, staring at the ceiling. Tom sympathized with Cameron, because he was the only Pokemon standing right next to him. David and Jordan had scooted to the sides, visibly embarrassed. After some initial confusion, however, everyone laughed. Some of the Pokemon even pointed.

'Owned it.' thought Cameron with a smile.

During their meal time, though, Cameron's outburst was met with an extreme appetite, as he ate almost 3 times his weight in food. Loudred challenged him to an eating contest beforehand, saying that he held the record for nonstop eating. They went at it, and, to no suprise, Cameron CRUSHED Loudred in about a 3-to-1 ratio.

"Uhh... can I have some more?" asked Cameron. Jaws dropped to the floor, as in Loudred's jaw.

Later that night...

Team Renegades had been assigned their room during their daily Team Assessment earlier, and had been in charge of making their own beds. Completely satisfied with the portions of food he had recieved, Cameron had told his team that he would make the beds on his own. When he called them in about 5 minutes later...

"WHOA!" exclaimed Tom.

"YOWZA..." whispered David.

"YEAAAAY!" yelled Jordan.

The entire room had been dedicated to all of them. Tom had a mini-dojo for training in, David had an art gallery, Jordan was given a library and Cameron had constructed some sort of machine-type housing for himself.

"Cameron, this is AMAZING! How did you do all of this?" asked Tom with shock.

"Meh, a little bit of know-how, and some raw materials to work with, and there ya go. Simple. Now, I notice Jordan drooling over that machine over there in my section, and what it is is simple to explain. It's a Recharger, something to help me on missions. Plug myself in every night, and BAM! Like a fresh battery: good to go. I can get stronger in my sleep, essentially." explained Cameron, adding emphasis when needed.

Jordan just stood there, drooling at the Recharger. Cameron looked at him with annoyance visible on his face. Jordan stopped drooling immediately, but still stared at the Recharger. Cameron eased his facial explression, but the annoyance was still visible.

"Jordan, is there something wrong? You keep staring at- WAIT. Might've had the AquaHypno Controller on again, great... well, at least I know it works." stated Cameron.

"Wait, wouldn't that work on me as well? I am a Totodile, after all..." inquired David.

"Nah, I had it specifically tuned to Jordan's brainwave frequency. It won't work on anything except Jordan and anything that somehow has his type and exact brainwave frequency, although initial VR testing was successful using the Terminal..." answered Cameron, pondering his brilliance for a second.

Jordan yawned, then muttered something about sleep before conking out in his section of the room. David followed suit soon after, leaving Tom and Cameron the only ones awake in the Guild.

"Night." Tom managed to mutter before drifting off into sleep.

Cameron nodded his head, then went to plug himself into the Recharger. System lights came on and the entirety of the Terminal pulsed a light green, indicating that the system was ready to go.

"Alright, that should do it. Hopefully, this'll help my strength and other natural abilities in this form, but at the least, it'll increase the potency of my Electric-Type attacks over time... now to see if it works." Cameron whispered to nobody in particular.

Cameron settled into the gel bed in the middle of the Recharger and drifted, slowly, into a restful sleep...

Inside the dream, however, he wasn't alone. Recounting the day was all Cameron could do in his state of rest, and, recounting the day's events, he remembered how he had custom built the room for everyone's needs. During his descent down Mt. Bristle, Cameron had fallen behind the rest of the group, dead dog tired. He tried to catch up, but he needed them to slow down. Seeing a glint of an object hidden within the shadows, he walked over to it and picked it up. It was, on closer inspection, an orb with a lustrous glow to it. It was beautiful, so Cameron decided to take it with him.

During the 5 minutes that Cameron used to create what was in the room, he remembered about the orb he found and decided to see if it would help him get the job done faster. Boy, did it ever. Based on what he had seen of what had become of his friends, he decided to make seperate areas for everyone. The mystery object he had picked up started to glow, and, 5 minutes later, the room was transformed into a haven for Cameron and his team.

However, during that night...

After remembering the day's events, Cameron started drifting out of the dream when he snapped back into a rainbow-like room. He was standing on what appeared to be a streak of red light, and an odd Pokemon was floating in front of him. Its appearance confused Cameron, so he decided to approach the strange creature. Upon further inspection, the Pokemon appeared to have a swan-like body and a sort of crescent-shaped head, as the ornaments on its head testified to that. Its colors were pink, with magenta tufts forming an arc across its chest and pink, ringlike wings on its side and back, along with paw-like protrusions resting on its chest, a yellow undersiding and blue covering the rest of its body.

"Hello?" Cameron called out.

The Pokemon just stood there, not responding.

"HEY! You OK over there?" Cameron yelled, this time with concern in his voice.

All of a sudden, the strange Pokemon came closer to Cameron. He tensed, waiting for an attack, but it never came. All the Pokemon did was get in close proximity.

"Uhh... there a problem?" asked Cameron.

"Be careful of the road ahead. There will be many trials to overcome, but you must remember this, brave one: never give up. If you do, all will be lost..." whispered the Pokemon with fear. Its tone was one of a female.

"Alright, then. I won't give up! By the way, I never got your name..." said Cameron, first fierce determination, then confusion hinted in his voice.

"Oh, how rude of me. I am Cresselia, the Lunar Pokemon. Do not worry, we shall cross paths again, I can assure you of that much." responded the Pokemon.

"Well, it's VERY nice to meet you, Cresselia. By the way, I'm Cameron. And, yeah, I know we'll cross paths. I can tell." said Cameron in a lower voice.

"Rememer... you can't give up. Keep pushing on..." cooed Cresselia before disappearing further into the reality of the dream.

"Right... time to get to work." muttered Cameron to nobody in particular. He saw a flash of white and slowly started to fade back into consciousness...

Well, this is Episode 5. Took me a long time due to procrastination, but WHAT!? Cresselia's not supposed to be in this until AFTER the Main Storyline(- SPOILER ALERT)! Also, mysterious orb. Nerd points goes to whoever gets it first. Now, most of you expect me to beg for a review or for me to ask if you'd follow me and my story. WHELP, I'm not that kinda guy. That's completely your desicion, but it always helps, and if you like what you see, then why not?

That's all I wanted to say for this. So, yeah... CiNos out! Peace.


	6. Chapter 6: Temporal and Spatial Gears

**Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky: Team Renegades**

Episode 6: Gears of Time and Space

After Team Renegades had settled into the Guild during their first day of jobs, and after they had gone to sleep, it started storming during the night. Far into the reaches of the northeast of the Mystery Dungeon world, there lied a place called Treeshroud Forest. Contained in the depths of it was a Temporal Gear, a very important piece to the flow of time in the world. Every Pokemon in this world knew not to touch the Temporal Gear, including the most evil Pokemon there are. However, something had been set in motion, and a certain Pokemon was determined to take all of the Temporal Gears, but not for the reason the world would come to believe. This Pokemon was a Grovyle, and little did Team Renegades know that this Grovyle would become their ally... but not before they became enemies.

"Do my eyes betray me? Is it truly...? YES! It is! Finally, a Temporal Gear! But this is only the first of them... I must find the others..."

The next day, during the wake up call, Chatot made an announcement.

Chatot cleared his throat, then said, "Everyone, pay attention. I have an announcement, and it's very important. Far into the outermost reaches of the northeast, there lies a place called Treeshroud Forest. And within it, time has ceased..."

Everyone asked if Chatot was telling the truth, and Chatot's response was simple: "Yes, I'm sure of it. The time flow surrounding Treeshroud Forest has completely frozen. All of the forest has been frozen in place. Even the clouds are motionless... the dewdrops on leaves just hang there, suspended in midair. There is no mistaking it. Treeshroud Forest has become paralyzed in time..."

Sunflora, one of the Guild's veterans, started analyzing the information, then put a look of pure terror on her face. "No... it's unthinkable!"

Chatot simply interjected with as much calm as he could muster, "Yes, the unthinkable has happened. Why HAS time stopped in Treeshroud Forest? The answer is simple. Treeshroud Forest's Temporal Gear has been stolen!"

Immediately after Chatot had finished his announcement, the entire Guild almost became downright outraged at this. Everyone except the members of Team Renegades was angry at this. Tom just started staring off into space, David had a look of pure terror and Jordan was trying to comprehend it all. Only Chatot, Wigglytuff and Cameron had been calm about this, but after Chatot had made his announcement, Cameron seemed tense, like a coil that was about to spring up.

Suddenly, Cameron uncoiled his unease by yelling, "QUIET!" The entire Guild put full attention to Cameron after this outburst. Then, as if a switch was thrown, Cameron focused on Chatot and calmly said, "Ok, you can keep going."

Chatot stared at Cameron with... what? Respect? Admiration?

Fear?

Chatot seemed to snap out of it and said, "Ah, yes. Right, thank you. Officer Magnezone has begun an investigation already on the matter. Honestly, I'm suprised anyone would take a Temporal Gear... but this has me worried about the others. If one Temporal Gear can be stolen, the rest may be in danger as well. Officer Magnezone has, of course, asked me to inform you all to notify him is you see any suspicious characters. Naturally, I'll be on the lookout as well, along with the Guildmaster. Please keep this in mind, and let us know if you obtain any information."

After finishing his announcement, Chatot then exclaimed, "Here's to another busy day of work!"

After the Guild's initial cheer, which Team Renegades joined in on, the Guild went on to their normal duties for the day. Cameron, however, told his team to stay put while he went up to Chatot.

"Yes? Something the matter, recruit?" Chatot asked.

If Cameron found Chatot's initial disrespect to be annoying, he showed no sign of it. Instead, he said, "Chatot, I need to speak with you and the Guildmaster about something important. May I?"

Chatot was somewhat confused as to what Cameron had on his mind, so he responded, "Ahh... yes. One second, let me see if the Guildmaster's up for it..."

Chatot then disappeared into the Guildmaster's chambers. Cameron went back to his team to discuss what their next plan of attack was going to be. It was not long, however, before Chatot peeked his head out of the door and whispered, "Hey, Cameron! The Guildmaster is ready to see you now. Come in!"

"Excuse me, guys." Cameron muttered, then went into the Guildmaster's chambers.

"Ahh, yes, this is the young recruit that asked for a private summon, Chatot?" asked the Guildmaster.

"Yes, Guildmaster. This young Pikachu would like to discuss something with us in private, so it would seem..." answered Chatot.

"Um, right... yeah, I'd like to make a special request." was Cameron's response, feeling as if the pairs of eyes looking at him could light him on fire should he twitch wrong.

"Well, then. Speak your mind, young one, you are amongst friends here!" replied Wigglytuff.

"I think my team could use some training for our missions, so I'd like a chance to help officer Magnezone in capturing the criminal who's stealing the Temporal Gears. Also, Chatot, I had a question to ask of you... if there are Temporal Gears, shouldn't there be another set of gears that control the flow of space? I was curious to that fact..." asked Cameron, curiosity overtaking his unease for the moment.

"Well, as for your request to help the officer, I will deny it for the time being, as I already have a task set for your team after your capture of Drowzee. Complete this task and I'll approve your request to assist officer Magnezone in his endeavors!" exclaimed a rather happy Wigglytuff.

His hapiness, however, was replaced with a cool calm in an instant, as he continued: "As for your question about a set of gears that could correlate with the Temporal Gears that regulate the flow of space... you asked the right Chatot here. He knows so much, I often ask him for his assistance on my own personal endeavors. He's so helpful."

Chatot took the cue and started talking. "Well, as for your theory, I have heard many things about your hypothesis for gears that could control the flow of space, but most are only rumors. There is, however, some fact beneath all of the opinions. Nobody quite knows what to name them, however, and only a few people have ever said that they existed..."

Keeping the Guildmaster's words in his head, but taking more importance to Chatot's information, Cameron decided to reply to Chatot first before thanking the Guildmaster. "Chatot, you truly are a lot of help, and I thank you for the information. As for having no name for those gears, I'd call them Spatial Gears myself. Seems only logical, considering the names of their counterparts, the Temporal Gears..."

If Chatot had anything to say to that, he kept it to himself. Cameron looked at him with mixed feelings, then turned his attention to the Guildmaster. "Guildmaster, as for your response to my request, thank you for taking it into consideration. I'm ready to recieve your mission and my team is fully capable of handling it, no matter the cost. I'm sure of it."

This put a smile on the Guildmaster's now happy expressions, as it would've seemed he couldn't be happier. "Wonderful! There's a waterfall not far from here that I would like your team to investigate. Me and Chatot here were so suprised to hear the success of your mission that we decided to test your abilities once again. As I said, if you complete this mission, we will let you assist officer Magnezone in his capture of whoever's stealing the Temporal Gears. Are we clear on this?"

Cameron was pleased with this, and was happy to give the proper response. "Yes, sir! I'll make sure to brief and prep my team before setting out. Thank you!"

He then started to turn and leave, but Chatot cleared his throat before he touched the door. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Cameron thought it over for a second, then remembered he had no idea where that waterfall was. "Right, I forgot to ask you for the location. Where is it, Chatot?"

"Stay straight after leaving Treasure Town, and you should come up on it in no time." was Chatot's amused response as he flew off to... what? Collect information? Study? Look for treasure?

Help in the search?

Cameron could only speculate as to where the Guildmaster's assistant went off to, so he pushed the thought out of his mind. Worrying about it served no useful purpose.

"Good luck on your travels!" called the Guildmaster from his Chamber as Cameron left. All Cameron could do was call back, "Thanks!"

When he came back out, he was not prepared for the way his team looked. Prior to entering the room, he had told them all to stay in the spots they were at now. It was clear, coming back now, that they had defied his order and went back to the room to modify their gear. David now sported a black fedora, custom built to stay on his Totodile head, with purple trim, an obvious clue as to what happened to what Cameron had at first erroneously thought of as a scarf, but turned out to be a bandana. His Explorer Bag was also modified so that he could carry it as a backpack, as well as everyone else's, including Cameron's, in case of need for a quick getaway, as Cameron could only speculate once again. Tom had converted his bandana into a scarf himself, and wore it around his neck as if it were nothing there in the first place. Jordan had made his bandana into a cape by sewing more material onto it, making his able to wear it in the first place and making him look like a super... penguin? Cameron's bandana, however, was tied onto his Explorer Bag, completely untouched and waiting for him.

"Props to you guys for making yourselves look awesome, but I thought I told you to stay put. Meh... I guess it's okay, but I wanna make it clear that while we're equals, I'm still the Team Leader. If I ask something of you, please try and respect my authority. In return, I'll put in the most effort and help you guys out when you need it. Alright?"

His friends all agreed with nods.

"Awesome, that's what I like to hear. Now, our mission is to explore a waterfall that's actually pretty close to Treasure Town, so our second mission as an Explorer Team won't require much travel. So, lucky break, or a call for bad news? I dunno, but we'll see. Let's MOVE, Team Renegades!"

"RIGHT!" yelled the team.

So, as I've found out while writing Episode 6, listening to music helps me focus TREMENDOUSLY while working on this. Keeping this in mind, one of my friends who's in this story, David (Reginald Edgarson on FanFiction), asked if he could have a fedora in the series, so I thought, "Meh, why not?" Problem was, he would stand out as unique, and I thought, "This could be an issue long-term..", so I decided to give the rest of the team, minus myself, different ways of wearing their bandanas, which I erroneously called scarfs, if you can't tell from the Episode right before the end. Sorry about that and any errors that occur in the series, I'm trying my best to focus. Anyways, SPATIAL GEARS!? What's THAT? Well, that'll be explained later, but (SPOILER ALERT) they do exist, along with 2 more sets of gears, plus the Temporal Gears, which will be explained later. But, for now, I'm gonna try to work on Episode 7 and crank it out as fast as possible. For now, PEACE OUT! CiNos is gone!


	7. Chapter 7: Existence of Spatial Gears

**Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky: Team Renegades**

Episode 7: Spatial Gears and Hot Springs

After a short trek, Team Renegades arrived at the waterfall that they were supposed to investigate. Cameron looked at the giant cascade of water and let out a slow, long whistle, something he was never able to do as a human. "That's a pretty impressive sight, eh, guys?"

Hearing no response from his team, he instinctively turned around, preparing for an ambush. Instead, he saw Tom undoing his scarf from around his neck. Cameron could only ponder as to what he was going to do with it, but Tom turned the bandana into a sort of headband, like the ones martial artists use, and tied it around his head. David scoffed with annnoyance at this, and Cameron wondered why Tom had done this in the first place. Turning his attention back towards the waterfall, Cameron searched for a hidden entrance located somewhere, but couldn't find anything. That's when Jordan let out a cry of shock, bringing the rest of the team's attention to him.

David attempted to shake Jordan, but Cameron intercepted him before he could touch his paralyzed friend. "Hold up... we don't wanna disturb him, it could be the same kind of situation like with sleepwalkers. Let's see how this plays out..."

Nobody moved while Jordan just stood there, looking frightened. He was completely engulfed by whatever was forcing him to see into what Cameron had speculated as the future, which led him to call this inate ability Future Glimpse. Jordan, however, saw the Guildmaster jumping into the waterfall, then exploring the cave into its depths and finding a large gem. However, when the Guildmaster touched the gem, he had activated a trap, causing the entire cavern to flood. That was when the vision ended, however, and Jordan had snapped back into reality. Realizing that the entrance to what they needed to get to was beyond the waterfall, Jordan tensed, then broke into a full sprint, much to the shock of the rest of his team.

Cameron only saw Jordan's back for a second or 2 before he disappeared into the waterfall. David, following by example, sprinted towards the waterfall, followed by Tom. Cameron had no choice but to follow them in. Much to his suprise, however, there was a cave where there should've been no cave. Jordan had somehow caught a glimpse into someone coming into this waterfall, but there were footprints, leaving Cameron to speculate that Jordan somehow saw a glimpse into the past. 'So... apparently, we can see into the future and past... this ability's useful, but it only seems to manifest when we need it the most... oh well, it'll still come in handy.' was the thought that Cameron gave it before refocusing his collective efforts on the mission at hand. This was no time to daydream; an entire world was at stake. He had to keep moving, get stronger and save his new friends,along with the world he had come from, Earth. Realizing this, Cameron got on all fours and sprinted ahead of his friends, adrenaline pumpig through his blood and all thoughts of stealth and caution were temporarily forgotten. Tom was actually right behind him, keeping pace, which had Cameron thinking about Tom's abilities as a Pokemon... but those thoughts were quickly shoved aside. David and Jordan managed to follow, but at a slower pace, which meant that the team was split in half in terms of cohesion. Cameron, however, had no such thoughts on this matter as he pushed deeper into the cave...

At the end of the cave, however, there was nothing waiting for them except the gem whcih Jordan had seen in his little daydream that had yet to be given a name. Just as Jordan had remembered what had happened to the Guildmaster after touching it, Cameron spotted the massive gem and said, "OOH! SHINEE!"

Jordan saw Cameron reach for the gem, but could only yell, "CAMERON! DON'T!" Tom, sensing something bad was going to happen, tried to grab Cameron, but he wasn't fast enough, and Cameron touched the gem. Luckily, that's all Cameron did; in fact, he had only poked it to see what would happen.

"LAWLS! You guys really think i'm that stupid? I know what i'm doing, guys, relax. This can only be a trap which... David is TRYING TO SPRING! NOOOOOO!"

David had snuck up beind Cameron and was attempting to pull out the huge gem when Cameron turned around and saw him. Cameron tried to stop David, but it was too late; a mechanism had started with a little _click!_, and the trap had already been sprung. Everyont turned to David with a different expression on each face; Jordan's showed nothing but terror, Tom's was one of disbelief, and Cameron's was just plain rage; if faces could kill, Cameron's face would've gutted David the second he looked at it. "What? There a problem?" was all David said.

Tom, being the group's danger sensor, asked, "Hey, does anyone else feel that?"

But Cameron had already sensed what was about to happen before Tom even said anything. Then, the sound of rushing water had grown stronger. Something shiny glinted within the gem, something only Cameron spotted, but... what could it have been? There was no time to investigate, as the water came from the left side of the cave system, taking Team Renegades in its unbreakable current. That's what SHOULD'VE happened, except Tom remembered that, as a Riolu, he had a slight feel for the aura in the air around him, and he somehow managed to turn it into a barrier that made the water seamlessly pass over the team without a drop even touching them. As quickly as it came, the water disappeared off to the right of the massive cave system into parts unknown. Once the water was well out of sight, the aura barrier surrounding the team dissipated and Tom fell to the cave floor, his energy spent. Cameron helped Tom up, then flung his right arm over his shoulders to prop him up.

"Nice save, Tom. That was pretty clutch!" was what Cameron had said to Tom.

"Thanks..." came Tom's quick, if not instantaneous, reply.

Jordan had recovered from the shock of David's act of stupidity with the trap, and was already walking over to him when Cameron jumped in front of him and said, "Nobody here knew that was a trap except you, Jordan. Just let it go. Besides, I should be the one to smack him. OR, if you're looking for someone to blame and you think you've got the guts, smack ME instead."

Jordan backed up 2 steps. Cameron, seeing that he had asserted his dominance, was pleased. Now, he could focus his attention on the gem without anything bothering him. Cameron started to walk towards the gem, hoping to see the glow he caught earlier, when Tom barred his way and yelled, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

Cameron, slightly annoyed at this, responded with all the patience he could muster: "Tom. I need to see something. Please move."

All Tom could do was move, but he felt as if something bad was about to happen. Cameron moved closer to the gem to inspect it, only to find out that there WAS something within the gem. An odd, pink gear was embedded into it, and, upon closer inspection, Cameron could see an 2 odd quarter circles surrounding the gear.

"Well, I'll be. Looks like they DO exist." was all he could mutter while staring at the Spatial Gear, awestruck at his discovery.

"What exists, Cameron?" asked Tom.

"Come to the gem and see for yourself. I've made a breathtaking discovery." responded Cameron, still awestruck.

Tom, David and Jordan came over to inspect the Spatial Gear. Although none of them knew what it was, they were all taken aback by its beauty. The Spatial Gear's glow could seemingly match that of a small explosion, but for far longer. Cameron decided to make a mental note to bring Chatot back here so that he could see for himself.

"Hey, maybe we should head back? It seems like we've got a bit of walking to do..." asked David.

"Well, I may have a solution to that..." responded Cameron.

"Aaaaaaaand that would be...?" asked Jordan.

However, wothout warning, Cameron punched the gem, once again springing the trap. Everyone started to run but the exit to the cave had been barred, leaving Team Renegades trapped.

All Tom could do was yell, "WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS!?" before the entire team waas swept away in the current, off into parts unknown...

Jordan and David, however, were instinctively prepared for this. Jordan used Whirlpool to create a bubble for everyone to breathe in, and David kept the air within clean by periodically using Mist. Cameron and Tom were both thankful to their friends for helping them, but Tom was still angry at Cameron. Cameron, however, sensed Tom's attack coming and rushed in to stop him, just in the nick of time; Tom's attack was rendered useless by Cameron's sudden gut punch, and Tom doubled over from the hit.

"GYAH!" screamed Tom.

Just then, the bubble popped and the air was obliterated by the rushing water... or that's what had seemingly happened as the entire team was flung high into the air, then uncerimoniously flung to the ground by gravity as the water receded. Luckily, the team fell into a puddle of water that was extremely deep. Or, at least it LOOKED like a puddle...

"WAAAAAAAIT... yup, hot spring. Just relax, guys, we're fine." said Cameron.

Just like Cameron had predicted, the puddle was, indeed, a hot spring. Just as soon as they started falling, they stopped when the hot spring came to meet all of them. Cameron was the only one to go in being relaxed, but everyone else nearly flipped. No harm came to anyone on impact, and the water served to ease their pain. When they surfaced, a Torkoal was calling for them.

"Ah! Well, hello, my friends! How are you doing?" asked Torkoal.

"Eh, pretty good, considering we got blown out of a cave with a 200 mph water stream. Plus, it brought us here, so hey. Awesome trap, if I do say so myself." answered Cameron.

After a nice soak while chatting with Torkoal and discussing matters of how to explain the mission to Chatot and the Guildmaster, everyone concluded with Cameron's idea: "Just tell him the truth. Plus, if we show Chatot my discovery, maybe he won't punish us. Besides, this mission was pretty easy. I honestly can't believe anyone's suprised about how it turned out."

Before leaving, however, Cameron had seen that Torkoal had been around the block, so to speak, and decided to ask him a quick question.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Torkoal, can I ask you something?"

"Why, yes, son! Go ahead, ask me anything!" replied Torkoal, feeling elated that his knowledge was being put to use.

"Do you, perhaps... know of the Spatial Gears? I've only been able to piece together some information, and most of it is just opinions. I was hoping that, maybe with your time spent here, you'd know a bit more about them..." questioned Cameron.

"Hmm... yes, the Spatial Gears. These gears act as a counter to the well-known Temporal Gears. I, amongst other elders, am one of the few Pokemon in this world still left alive that know of their existence. I can say this with 100% accuracy: my boy, the Spatial Gears do exist, make no mistake. But beware: disturbing any of them will be your undoing; Palkia does not take kind to having any of his Gears attacked."

Cameron decided that this would suffice for information, so he said, "Alright, thank you, Torkoal. I'll make sure to remember that. Thanks for your time, and i'm sure we'll be back!"

"Yes, of course! You're welcome here, young ones! Good luck to you all!" yelled Torkoal in response.

Having rested, Team Renegades set off for the Guild...

Okay, procrastination is REALLY cutting into my writings. I may have to take a break and deal with this bull****. Meh, later... anyways, EPSIODE 7! Probably the most boring one ever, but i've been a bit rushed for ideas, and my storyline keeps getting jumbled up in my brain. I'll figure out the details later...

Spatial Gears do exist! WOW, who DIDN'T see THAT one coming!? ...Gay guy, PUT YOUR HAND DOWN. Episode 8 within this month? Who knows? STAY TUNED! CiNos OUT!

*EDIT* - Found a spelling error in the .rtf file on my flash drive, which has been edited. You're welcome.


	8. Chapter 8: The Seven Treasures

**Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky: Team Renegades**

Episode 8: The Seven Treasures

After finding their way again, Team Renegades had made it safely back to Treasure Town and the Guild. While Cameron made his mission report to Chatot and the Guildmaster, the rest of the team were discussing what to do.

"So, what do we do now? Just more random missions until something exciting happens?" asked Tom.

"Ehh... hard to tell. Maybe something important will come up? I say be ready for anything." responded David.

"But what about the Spa-" started Jordan, who was instantaneously cut off midsyllable by Cameron putting his hand on Jordan's beak.

"Jordan, we have to keep it a secret. Just in case..." whispered Cameron.

"Cameron! How'd it go?" asked Tom.

"You guys won't believe this- well, at least Tom and David won't- but the Guildmaster already explored the cave, making our most recent exploration a complete waste of time." answered Cameron, annoyance in his voice.

"WHAT!?" yelled Tom and David in unison.

"Well, except for my... 'discovery'. Chatot wants to take me alone tomorrow to inspect the gem so that he can confirm it. You guys'll have to go on missions tomorrow without me. I'm gonna put David in charge because I can trust him not to fall apart under stress. Right, David?" asked Cameron.

"Ayup. You can trust me!" replied David.

'...why didn't he pick me...?' thought Tom with anger.

During dinner, however, Cameron couldn't really eat that much after beating Loudred in another eating contest, to which Loudred promptly excused himself to throw up. Cameron could only think of tomorrow, as well as David, who was chowing away, but for different reasons. Tom had only one thought: to find out whoever was stealing the Temporal Gears... alone. Jordan? Who knows, nobody can really tell...

Feeling sort of sad about Tom, Cameron decided to try and patch things up, but Tom was already asleep. Thinking better of waking Tom up and ruining the amount of sleep he would get, Cameron decided to go to sleep. He plugged himself into the Recharger and slowly drifted off...

In his dream, however, Cameron spotted Tom and decided to walk over to see if he was real.

"Tom?" called Cameron. He got no response.

Immediately, Cameron saw Cresselia talking to Tom and decided to see if he could get closer without being detected. Remembering that this was a dream, he quickly tried to imagine a cloak that turned you invisible in the rainbow enviroment. But, by some random stroke of bad luck, he ended up getting a Rainbow Dash costume.

"Whut duh FUH, Seamus? I wanted a friggin rainbow cloak, not Rainbow Dash. Dagnabit... stupid dreamworld..." muttered Cameron. Having nothing else to hide himself from Tom and Cresselia, Cameron had no choice but to don the costume and get closer. Luckily, the costume was perfect for a disguise somehow, and Cresselia never noticed Cameron.

"Well, put me in a factory and turn me into glue... i'll be ****ed." whispered Cameron under his breath.

"...lurks ahead for you. Trust yourself and your friends only, and you will get through this." said Cresselia to Tom.

"But,,, he didn't even trust me enough to make me the leader. Why should I listen to him anymore?" growled Tom.

"He means well, even if his judgement was somewhat misguided. He was only putting your safety first, and he knew David here would keep calm. I can sense the fear deep inside of you, Thomas. Don't let it consume you; it will lead to anger, then hatred. You must control it, and keep yourself in check." cooed Cresselia.

Tom sighed, then responded with, "Yeah, I guess you're right... maybe it is for the best."

Cameron decided that, at that moment, he had heard enough. He started to walk away, and was met with unrelenting darkness.

"...death..." came a faint whisper.

"HUH!? Who's there!?" yelled Cameron in response.

"You... will not survive my wrath..." came the same voice in a faint whisper again.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOO!" screamed Cameron at the top of his lungs.

The darkness surrounding him destroyed his disguise, then started to swallow him whole. Cameron could only stand there and watch as he faded from existence...

Jolted with a start, along with the extra kick from the Recharger, Cameron snapped awake, lying in a cold sweat. He was breathing heavily, and his heart rate had skyrocketed to almost 155. He managed to calm down after a minute or two, but was unsure of what that dark wisp was.

"No... not here... not now. It's not gonna happen..." muttered Cameron to nobody. He then attempted to sleep again, and within another minute, had drifted back off into sleep...

In the morning, Cameron got up only to see that everyone else except Tom was already up and gone. Tom had been awake, but he was waiting for Cameron to wake up before going on ahead.

"Hey, buddy! How are you feeling?" asked Tom.

Cameron remembered what had happened before, and he realized that the dream had not only messed with his right of mind, but had caused physical harm as well. This was apparent in the way Cameron attempted to get up, only to suffer a massive headache, sit down and respond to Tom, "UHHH... like ****..."

"Ouch. Are you gonna be alright?" questioned Tom.

"Eh, I'll be fine. Still alive, right? Gonna need some help up, though..." answered Cameron, who had his hand streched out, which Tom grabbed and pulled to bring Cameron standing upright.

"Thanks..." said Cameron.

"Hey, what are friends for?" asked Tom.

"Not friends. Not you and me. No, we're brothers. We come from different families, but I think of you as a brother... friend is an understatement." answered Cameron.

'Brothers? Me?' thought Tom.

Reporting for the morning announcements, Chatot had some very important news to share with the rest of the Guild.

"Ahem. As you all know, the Temporal Gears are at danger of being stolen. Luckily, officer Magnezone has figured out who this criminal is. If you all would follow me downstairs, I will show you."

Everyone followed, with Team Renegades bringing up the rear. Downstairs, Chatot directed them to the Outlaw Listing Board. There was only one photo: that of a Grovyle who looked a little worse for wear. His neck was all scuffed up, and he had a scar over his left eye.

"Now, fellow Guild members, check your Explorer Badges." instructed Chatot.

Nobody hesitated for a second to get their Explorer Badge out. Everyone noticed the new change immediately: there was a Magnemite-shaped button on it, not even taking up any space. It sat there, unmoving.

"If any one of you spot this criminal, do not hesitate to press that button. Defying heavy advisory from the Guildmaster not to, I have ordered a personal... well, purse, for the capture-" said Chatot, who was cut off by a snicker.

The snicker had come from Cameron, who immediately apologized, stating that Chatot's choice of words was "pretty darn funny" before apologizing again and telling Chatot to continue.

"Well... okay, then. Actually, thinking back on it, it DOES seem pretty funny. Hehe... anyways. I have put a personal bounty on this criminal's head. Whoever can capture or kill this Pokemon will get..." informed Chatot, who was pointing at right under the poster of Grovyle. Everyone gasped when they saw what Chatot had posted.

"100,000 Poke!? Geezus, Chatot, why so high, and where do you have that much Poke?" asked Cameron.

"Alright, recruit, 2 things. One, the reason to put it so high is to motivate all of you to keep a lookout and to make sure you all keep up with your daily training. Two, this Pokemon is extremely dangerous, as one of the officer's Magnemites have informed me. This will help with ensuring that there won't be anyone who runs away." answered Chatot.

"Huh... seems legit." said Cameron.

After the morning announcements, Team Renegades regrouped and dicussed plans before Chatot took Cameron off for Waterfall Cave again.

"So, guys. I've made a bit of a desicion, and I've decided. Tom, you're in charge while I'm with Chatot. Sorry, David, but I think Tom really wanted this, and I'm confident in him to get the job done. Right, Tom?" asked Cameron.

"YOU GOT IT!" exclaimed Tom.

"Well, good. I, uh, really didn't want that kind of pressure on me, so I was kinda hoping that you would give it to someone else. Eh, honestly, I would've been fine even if it had been Jordan." said David, looking a little bit more relaxed.

"...Jordan. Really? COME ON, David, please use your brainbox." responded an annoyed Cameron.

"HEY!" yelled Jordan.

Just as soon as they started talking, Chatot called, "Recruit Pikachu! Front and center, or I'm going to leave without you!"

Cameron sighed heavily and dramatically, then muttered, "As if you could even get into the cave without me, birdbrain..." before walking away, visibly annoyed.

As soon as Cameron had climbed the ladder did Chatot fly outside and go off. This would've been annoying had he really gone ahead without Cameron. Instead, it was right outside the Guild entrance.

"Oh, good. I thought you actually pulled a stupid and left without me..." said Cameron.

"Now why would I leave without you? My dear boy, think a little; do you honestly think I could get in the cave without you?" asked Chatot.

"Well, of COURSE not. You'd get pounded by that MASSIVE- and when I say massive, I LITERALLY mean MASSIVE- waterfall guarding the cave entrance." responded Cameron.

"Exactly. Shall we?" questioned Chatot.

"Well, of course we shall. What, just gonna be lazy?" answered Cameron.

Chatot was about to say something, but thought better of it and kept it to himself. Together, the two set out for Waterfall Cave...

Meanwhile, inside the Guild, the rest of Team Renegades, now under the command of an elated Tom, much to the relief of David, were preparing to set out and look for Grovyle when, suddenly, Tom remembered what had happened to him during the transistion. He remembered an image of darkness, then felt aggravating pain as something happened. He then slowly started to recount his journey into Shimmer Desert...

At the time of Tom's initial arrival, he had been under some sort of otherworldly influence, feeling stronger than what he actually was. It took him no time to get to Shimmer Desert's 10'th Floor and reach the room of the Terra Cymbal, which he quickly obtained. However, before leaving, Groudon appeared and challenged Tom, an apparent 'thief with no remorse', to a battle. That battle, however, was extremely short-lived, because Tom rushed Groudon and hammered his gut with a devastating Aura Sphere. Groudon had passed out even before he hit the sandy floor. Tom left, leaving Groudon there to fend for himself.

As soon as the recollection started, however, it had just as slowly ended, and Tom regained consciousness. Before it ended, though, Tom saw 7 flashes of what appeared to be the entrances of Mystery Dungeons...

A giant, seemingly bottomless chasm, with a pair of red eyes staring at him...

A dense jungle, with a flash of pink...

A literal tower of clouds, extending to a green meteor that seemed to be orbiting the tower...

An immense sea cavern, with an odd, red hieroglyph, passing by...

A massive mountain, its peak streching far beyond eye perception, with a shadow of a bird guarding it...

The inside of a volcano, with heavy flames coming out of one of its many caves...

And, of course, the impossible to spot entrance to the Shimmer Desert, where he had obtained...

"The Terra Cymbal..." whispered Tom.

Upon hearing that, Jordan and David remembered their dungeons in a flash, and all three of them pulled out one of the Seven Treasures. Tom, of course, had the Terra Cymbal, David had the Sky Melodica and Jordan had the Grass Cornet. Everyone gasped when they saw what Team Renegades had pulled out.

Not too far away, Cameron had the same idea, but he first asked Chatot, "Hey, Chatot. Do y'know what this thing is?"

"Well, if you show me, I might be able to analyze it for you." responded Chatot, now focusing all of his attention on the recruit.

Cameron pulled out the Rock Horn and showed it to Chatot, who jumped back in suprise.

"THAT...! HOW DID YOU... WHAT THE!? HOW THE!? WHEN THE!?" exclaimed Chatot in confusion.

"Birdbrain, ya gonna tell me what this is, or are you just gonna flap your wings there like an idiot all day?" asked Cameron, visibly annoyed.

"You, my boy... have the Rock Horn, one of this world's Seven Treasures." answered Chatot with as much calm as he could muster.

"Well, Treasure sure sounds interesting. What's this thing do?" inquired Cameron.

"It will make it easier for Rock-Type Pokemon to be recruited onto your side as partners. But the only way to obtain it is by beating The Shadow of the Abyss..." whispered Chatot.

"What, you mean that big dragon thing at the end of the World Abyss? Dude, I know that Pokemon when I see it, he's my all-time favorite!" responded Cameron.

"Yes, I know that Giratina lives at the bottom of the World Abyss. But how did you even survive down there, let alone obtain one of the Seven Treasures? Giratina is supposedly very difficult to battle with, and not many Pokemon have survived his ultimate attack..." said Chatot, who then shivered.

"Actually... I don't know HOW I got it in the first place. I just woke up in the infirmary after our little showdown, - which, by the way, was technically put on hold, and I'd like to finish it as soon as possible - I saw the little oak box, opened it, and BOOM. There it was. Guildmaster says he found me right in front of the World Abyss while he was under some sort of trance. I assume that's what happened to me; I came into the world, then traveled to the World Abyss and beat Giratina. But, it's only an assumption, but that fits the bill..." responded Cameron.

"Well, we'll discuss it later. Right now, we need to get to Waterfall Cave. Come on, recruit, step it up!" exclaimed Chatot with renewed vigor.

All Cameron could do was follow and mutter, "Recruit my ***... this recruit'll ****in kick the **** outta you, you dopey little spaff..."

So, Episode 8. Yeah, done. Really swell, got some more things to work out, but if I can get this going, this'll be one great series. NERD POINTS TO WHOEVER GETS THE "Dopey little Spaff" JOKE AT THE END. 50... NERD POINTS. *Note*: Nerd Points only redeemable for epicness in the long run. Does not constitute as any sort of currency.

Still setting up for YouTube videos, but with my setup right now, I could record some gameplay. Not gonna start too much until this series is done, so don't get your hopes up too much for the time being. If you have a YouTube account, though, who don't you head over to my channel ( /user/xxrenegadecinosxx) and hit that Subscribe button so you're prepared for the epicness? *Note*: Will be doing an entire playthrough of the Pokemon handheld series until I can get copies of PS, PS2, XD: GoD and BR. I have COLOSSEUM, but I need a better tower to record on first... I can record the Handheld GB/GBA games right now, but procrastination denies me of that right now, along with the free time used up for this...

One more thing: Shoutout to Traveling Master (TM), 9V F0XB0X (Adam, who is gonna be in my series), and tomhur (who is currently in my series under his actual name... pretty obvious) for giving me support on this. I thank you and for everyone who likes my series. I'm doing my best to update, but it's getting harder to focus... I WILL PERSERVERE, do not worry, my friends.

That's all I wanted to talk about. CiNos OUT. PEACE!


	9. Chapter 9: Important Discoveries

**Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky: Team Renegades**

Episode 9: Important Discoveries

During the discussion, Tom decided to use his powers as temporary leader of Team Renegades to research the Seven Treasures. He learned of the locations of all 7, along with their names...

The Rock Horn, deep within the World Abyss...

The Sky Melodica, at the top of Sky Stairway...

The Grass Cornet, hidden within the Mystery Jungle...

The Aqua-Monica, buried deep under the Bottomless Sea...

The Terra Cymbal, hiding in the Shimmer Desert...

The Icy Flute, at the peak of Mt. Avalanche...

And the Fiery Drum, lodged deep within a Giant Volcano...

Tom had the Terra Cymbal, and, due to David and Jordan revealing their Treasures, he knew that everyone had one. David had obtained the Sky Melodica and Jordan had the Grass Cornet, so Cameron had to have one of them. Which one that one was, Tom had no idea, but he remembered that he had been told Cameron had been found outside of the World Abyss, and the Rock Horn was in there, so Cameron must've gotten that one. At least, that's what Tom guessed, but he asked David, who replied, "Eh, yes. I think I saw that Cameron had the Rock Horn on him once, when we went into Waterfall Cave..."

Meanwhile, at Waterfall Cave...

Cameron and Chatot were in a bit of a situation. As soon as they reached Floor 5, they had encountered a Monster House, and it consisted of mainly Wishcash and Barboach. Chatot didn't have much for his Attack Stat, and Cameron's Electric-Type moves were completely innefective on the Wishcash and Barboach.

"Hey, Pikachu! What do we do!?" yelled Chatot.

After a bit more fighting, Cameron decided that enough was enough. "I say we book it and find another way through! This way's barred unless you've got something to get us through that!" was his response.

"AH! I remember now! Pikachu, come here!" exclaimed Chatot.

Cameron scoffed, then walked over to Chatot.

"Here, use this!" said Chatot, giving Cameron a strange Orb.

"Alright... here goes!" exclaimed Cameron, who then focused on the orb while Chatot fought back the Monster Room.

In his head, Cameron saw that the stairs to the next floor were past the Monster House. He immediately banished the Wonder Orb's power from his head and prepared to charge a Chidori attack.

"Recruit, that won't do anything!" yelled Chatot.

"The electric effect may be useless, but this still packs quite a punch! MOVE, CHATOT!" screamed Cameron.

Chatot flew up high and Cameron rushed in with Chidori, attacking one of the Wishcash. It fainted upon impact and fell to the floor, unconscious. All of the other Pokemon, minus Chatot, became Terrified and ran anywhere but the direction that this super strong Pikachu was walking. Cameorn had officially let his presence be known, and he had the calm aura of a commander.

"Recruit, that was amazing! How DO you do that?" asked Chatot with awe.

"Okay, first off: My name is Cameron. Nice to meet you, too, ***hole. SECONDLY, stop calling me a Recruit before I forget my manners and backhand the **** outta you. Third, my Chidori's electricity may be ineffective against Ground-Types, as with any Electric-Type move, but the force coming from my rushing palm is more than enough to take down any single Pokemon, no matter how strong. And, you know what they say: the bigger they are, the harder they fall. And, yes - OH, YES - they will all fall. I'm on a mission... and with these powers that i've been given, I won't let anything stand in my way. COUNT ON IT." was Cameron's lengthy response.

Chatot was silent the rest of the way, only responding when Cameron called for him to pick up the pace a bit or to check to see if Chatot was still protecting his flank. The food chain had definitely changed between the leader of Team Renegades and the Guildmaster's aide. Rank or not - like it or not - Chatot knew that not only was Cameron in charge, he meant business.

As soon as they reached the gem, Cameron pointed to it and motioned Chatot to follow. So Chatot did.

"Alright, here's the gem. Careful, it's wired to a mechanism that'll flood the cavern and send us to the Hot Spring. Be careful..." said Cameron.

"AH, yes, I do remember the Guildmaster telling me about this... eh? What's this?" responded Chatot, who looked further into the gem to inspect it, then continued with, "So... they DO exist..."

"Yeah, that's what I was telling you. What, you thought I lied? Seriously, give me some credit here, Chatot..." muttered Cameron, once again visibly annoyed.

"No, I didn't doubt your story one bit. It was simply that it was based off of legends that had me skeptical in the first place. But, now that we know these Spatial Gears exist, we need to protect them somehow..." answered Chatot, looking somewhat scared.

"Oh. Well, then, when you put it like that, I guess it's understandable..." said Cameron.

"But how to remove it from the gem here without activating the mechanism? Obviously, it's not safe in its protection because of our situation, so mabye if we-" started Chatot, who was then interrupted by a battle cry from Cameron. Chatot turned just in time to see Cameron about to throw a Shock Bomb his way, already in the air and cocking back the Shock Bomb, prepared to throw. Cameron threw it at Chatot, but the bird managed to dodge in time, leaving only one target for it to hit...

As the Shock Bomb impacted on the gem, the ancient mechanism for the trap inside was destroyed and the gem was shattered. When the dust cleared, Cameron and Chatot both saw it; the Spatial Gear, radiating red energy, but otherwise unharmed, floated in the air where the gem was only moments before. Its floating symbols, to Chatot, were reversed of what the Temporal Gear symbols were. To Cameron, it looked like just 4 quarter circles, the top left and the bottom right being slightly larger than the top right and bottom left, with larger... spokes? It was difficult to tell because Cameron had never seen a Temporal or Spatial Gear before. The Spatial Gear was a variation of red and pink, making it appear slightly purple-ish with a bit more red color.

"Well, it seems that there is truth in rumors. There are answers now to questions i've had for a long time, but there are also new questions to fill those answered ones. This is marvelous. Cameron, you are something else, my boy!" said Chatot, exuberating with happiness.

"Thanks for the praise, but remember - we need to leave that Spatial Gear untouched. My theory is this: like their counterparts, the Temporal Gears, the Spatial Gears will disrupt the area around it. Unlike the Temporal Gears, however, the Spatial Gears will disrupt the stability of space, not the flowing of time. This gives me an answer to a question I had, actually. If you're stuck in a timeless area, you'll still occupy space and have a body. But, with areas affected by the instability of the space around it, you can still age, but you won't technically have a body to age in. I theorize that, in either case, that you're confined to that certain space and time as if it were an alternate dimension. But it's only speculation based on this finding... really nothing more than an educated guess..." responded Cameron, deep in thought.

"Well, that's certainly a well thought out guess. Highly educated, as well. I was actually thinking of the same thing myself!" replied Chatot.

Both Cameron and Chatot started laughing. After a good laugh, the two slowly started to make their way out of the dungeon...

Meanwhile, at the entrance to the Bottomless Sea...

"Uh, Tom? Could you remind me why we're here again?" asked David.

"David! We're searching for the Seven Treasures! Come on, man, remember these things!" answered Jordan, a little unnerved.

"Thanks, Jordan. I was getting tired of explaining it. I've heard that the Aqua-Monica lies deep within the Bottomless Sea, so we're gonna be the ones to retrieve it. Think you guys can handle this?" inquired Tom.

"YEAH!" exclaimed Jordan.

"Eh, not to be a... uh, stick in the mud, as they say, but don'tcha think this might be a BIT too difficult for us, Tom?" questioned David.

"HEY! I'M THE LEADER HERE, AND WHAT I SAY GOES! DON'T QUESTION IT!" screamed Tom.

"Okay, okay! Sheesh. No need to go off on me..." muttered David.

"Let's MOVE!" yelled Tom.

Slowly, but surely, the rest of Team Renegades battled their way to the end of the Bottomless Sea. Unbeknownst to them, Kyogre, the Guardian of the Aqua-Monica was already prepared for their arrival. It sat there, patiently, lying in wait...

I'm already done with Episode 9!? HOHLEE PEWP, I wrote this FAST! And, yes, it is confirmed that the Spatial Gears exist. Nobody can doubt it now. NOBODY! If you do, you're just being either ignorant or a jerk. Either way, CLEAN UP YOUR ACT.

Looks like Tom's taking charge and Cameron's making friends. What's gonna happen next Episode!? TUNE IN TO FIND OUT! (Note: It may or may not have explosions, I'm still trying to decide...)

CiNos OUT!

*EDIT*- Important plot detail involving the Spatial Gears added. Yay.


	10. Chapter 10: Four Becomes Three

**WAIT! **Before we get started here, I just wanna state a few things, cuz I forgot to do this for the longest. Might end up doing this every 10 Episodes or so, just to be safe, but lazy. Not too annoying, I hope...

_**I own NOTHING! **_

Pokemon is a game series created by, and copyrighted to, **Nintendo, GAME FREAK and Creatures Inc. **Also, Mystery Dungeon Gens 1 (Red and Blue Rescue Team) and 2 (Explorers of Time, Darkness and Sky) are made by **Chunsoft and owned primarily by Nintendo, Creatures Inc. **(not sure, someone correct me if i'm wrong) **and GAME FREAK.  
**

I am just a fan of this series, and _**this is a non-profit, fan-based remake of one game, Explorers of Sky**_. Please support the official release of Pokemon!

** Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky: Team Renegades**

Episode 10: Four Becomes Three

After a long struggle, Chatot and Cameron managed to make their way out of the Waterfall Cave. Much to the suprise of Cameron, however, Jordan was waiting for the both of them at the entrance. After seeing Jordan in his condition, tattered, beaten and out of breath, Cameron instantly went into panic mode and rushed over to him, fearing the worst.

"Jordan! What happened!?" asked Cameron.

"David... hurt... needs help... uhh..." muttered Jordan, who pointed his flipper at a severely injured Tom and an unconscious, even worse for wear David, sprawled out in a heap before passing out himself.

"Oh my... Cameron, QUICKLY! Help Totodile, I'll tend to Piplup!" exclaimed Chatot with panic.

Cameron got on all fours and rushed to David's aid, closing the distance in only 5 strides.

"Tom, what happened? Is David alright?" questioned Cameron.

"We barely got out alive... too strong..." muttered Tom, looking on the verge of death.

"TOM! USE YOUR BRAINBOX! What... HAPPENED!?" yelled Cameron, now angry.

"We tried to go for it... one of the Seven Treasures... but the Guardian... uhhhhh..." muttered Tom again before passing out, much like Jordan.

"Oh god... no, please don't..." whispered Cameron with sadness. He flipped over David to find only one thing: David had been impaled in the stomach by a permafrost spear. It missed vital organs, but the spear tip was still lodged in there, and David was losing blood fast.

"CHATOT!" screamed Cameron at the top of his lungs.

Chatot came rushing over to assess the situation, but there was no need. One look and Chatot knew it all. "Oh dear... we have to get them all back to the Guild... and fast."

"I'll call the officer. Technically, this button can be used in case of an emergency, right, Chatot?" asked Cameron.

"Yes, technically. That button was specifically for Grovyle, but if a need arises-" started Chatot.

"Uh, Chatot? A NEED HAS CERTAINLY ARISED! I'M PRESSING THIS **** BUTTON!" yelled Cameron, who then (obviously) pressed the button.

"Officer Magnemite here. Can you hear me?" asked a Magnemite on the other end.

"YES, YES! QUICK, SEND A TEAM DOWN HERE! TELL THEM TO BRING A MEDIC! HURRY!" yelled Cameron in a panic.

"Yes, sir! Right away!" responded the officer.

A squad of Magnemites, headed by Sheriff Magnezone and a Chansey were on the scene in minutes. Chatot and Cameron took Jordan, Tom was taken by the Magnemites and Sheriff Magnezone took David. They all quickly made it back to the Guild, which was well aware of the situation...

After a while, David started to stir. Ironically, he was the first one to wake up, noting that he had the most serious condition. Cameron hadn't left the room since his team had been put in the infirmary. As soon as David started to move, Cameron spoke with force that could move mountains.

"What happened? I want nothing but the truth, and I want it now, David. Sorry to be so straightforward, but I need to know that happened."

David remembered the trip down into the Bottomless Sea, already starting to recite the events as they played out in his head...

"WHAT!?" growled Cameron.

"That's right. Tom wanted to go after the Aqua-Monica, so he took us to the Bottomless Sea. Unfortunately, we were battered and beaten easily by its Guardian, Kyogre. He was MASSIVE! I don't know why Tom chose that dungeon, given that you weren't there to help us..." responded David.

"...fool... he should've known..." growled Cameron under his breath. He then looked at Chansey, the nurse and said, "Call for me when the Riolu wakes up. I need to speak with him... it's very important." After that, Cameron walked out of the infirmary.

Chatot immediately summoned Cameron to discuss his team's failiure due to his absence and the success of his private mission with Chatot. Fortunately, for Cameron, Chatot decided to get the obvious bad news out of the way first.

"So, about your team's failiure... do you think you made an error in judgement in giving recruit Riolu the command instead of letting the Totodile keep command?" asked Chatot.

"Yes, that was a mistake." was Cameron's response.

"Shouldn't you have at least told him to inform me about where he was going?" asked Chatot.

"Had I known it was going to be at a dangerous dungeon, I would've either told him to pick somewhere else or notified you immediately, Chatot." answered Cameron.

"Alright, then... one more thing. What is UP with that PIPLUP? Seriously, he's very weird. I hear him talking about random things in his sleep..." asked Chatot with confusion.

"I... actually can't answer that, sir. I've not known him for too long, but I assume he's disabled mentally or something. He's very smart, actually. He just acts dumb so that he won't be pressured for stuff." answered Cameron with the same confusion as Chatot.

"Well, then... very well. Enough on that, let's talk about our mission. It was very exciting, and your skills as a Pokemon are increasing rapidly. I can't wait to see what the future holds in store for you, young one." commented Chatot.

"...are my ears messed up, or did you just compliment me?" asked Cameron.

"Well, it's certainly nice to know about the Spatial Gears existing. Great power, excellent leadership capabilities and an eye for interest. Very good. That ends this summoning, recruit. DISMISSED!" answered Chatot.

Just as Cameron left the room, he heard, "He's up! Where is that Pikachu!?"

Cameron rushed to the infirmary, hoping to confront Tom. Just as he entered, Chansey came behind, with Tom, David and Jordan in tow. As soon as Cameron spotted his team, he became furious, and his eyes locked onto Tom's.

Tom saw this and tried to run, but Cameron was on Tom in seconds, Tackling him to the floor. Everyone turned to look at the confrontation.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?" screamed Cameron.

Tom, however, didn't like the restraint, and he broke free. Cameron let go and vaulted into the air, doing a backflip (for style) and landing with a _thump_. Tom instantly became furious as well, and their eyes glared at eachother.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?" yelled Tom.

"What, me Tackling you? THAT WAS FOR NOT USING YOUR BRAINBOX! WHY DID YOU GO TO THE BOTTOMLESS SEA!? YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN KILLED, AND YOU'RE **** WELL LUCKY THAT DAVID DIDN'T DIE, OR ELSE YOU WOULD BE DEAD RIGHT NOW!" screamed Cameron in response.

"I WAS TRYING TO BE LIKE YOU! WHY ARE YOU BEING SO SELFISH!?" yelled Tom.

"Selfi- WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!? THIS ISN'T A GAME, TOM! I WAS TRYING TO BE A LEADER AND KEEP MY FRIENDS FROM BEING HURT! THIS ISN'T ABOUT ME, IT'S ABOUT US!" yelled Cameron.

"Guys, GUYS! Let's just try to calm down and-" started David.

As soon as David tried to defuse the situation, Tom and Cameron looked at David.

"SHUT UP!" bellowed Tom and Cameron in unison, using their attacks to punch David into the wall; Tom attacked with Force Palm and Cameron attacked with Chidori.

"Tom, why did you try to do something you knew you couldn't do!? MAN, I KNEW making you leader was a mistake!" growled Cameron with anger.

"AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO CARES ABOUT BEING HUMAN AGIAN!?" asked Tom.

"Well, if you don't wanna be here, THEN WHY DON'T YOU JUST LEAVE!?" answered Cameron.

At this, Tom removed the headband from his head, ripped it in half and yelled, "I QUIT!"

Cameron, seeing that Tom was dead serious, quickly became worried. "Tom, wait! You know I didn't mean it like that!"

But it was too late. The damage had already been done, and Tom was already on his way out.

Jordan, however, still tried to stop him. He got up to the top before Tom and barred his path.

"Tom, WAIT!" pleaded Jordan, but it wasn't enough. Tom thumped Jordan on the top of his head, knocking him out before he even hit the floor. Down below, Cameron wondered what was going to happen to Tom... and if he could stomach the price of knowing the answer. He also wondered if he just lost his best friend.

Later that night, Chatot had announced that he needed to see Team Renegades in private. There were no announcements that night.

"Well, that was quite a show there, Cameron. Tell me, do you know where Tom is going?" asked Chatot.

Cameron barely managed to mutter, "No..."

"Well, that's certainly unfortunate. In time, though, if he doesn't kill himself, he'll be back. You may have been a bit clouded by anger, but, honestly, I would've done the same thing, were I in your position. I almost forgot my composure and helped you myself, but I knew my place. Plus, you gave David quite a punch, you and Tom. I've given your team some strict time off. You and your team are to rest for the next 2 days. No missions, but I will allow explorations." explained Chatot.

"Yes, sir. I understand. The rest of my team will be ready for missions as soon as you allow us. Thank you..." answered Cameron.  
t  
After the team's dismissal, Team Renegades was excused to their room for dinner, and each member was given a double helping ("WHY!? They haven't done ANYTHING!" yelled Loudred at this discovery). Cameron sat there, contemplating on how to best look for Tom, then gave up the thought and plugged himself into the Recharger. Thinking about Tom wasn't going to help Cameron find his friend. Giving up for the night after eating his food, and noting Jordan and David resting, Cameron attempted to go to sleep, but it turned out that he was more tired than he thought, because as soon as he stopped thinking properly, he passed out...

An hour later...

Tom had fought hard, but he managed to make it to the end of Treeshroud Forest, where the Temporal Gear used to reside. Hoping to find clues as to where Grovyle had gone, Tom had come here, searching for answers. Unfortunately, Grovyle had set up camp here, and he chose tonight to come back here. As soon as Tom spotted Grovyle, he tried to rush him, but Grovyle had spotted Tom out of the corner of his eye and had him pinned in a second.

"So, you've come. I knew you'd find me here, and I have a story for you, if you'll listen to me." said Grovyle.

"OK, OK! Just PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!" panicked Tom.

"No worries. I'm a friend." responded Grovyle, who then released Tom. They sat down by the campfire and Grovyle began to tell his tale...

Episode 10's got the, uhh... disclaimer, so... yeah. I have brain problems. Also, TOM! WHY DID YOU LEAVE!? COME BAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

Episode 11's coming up, but first, RECAP! CiNos OUT!


	11. Chapter 11: Spinda's Cafe

**Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky: Team Renegades**

Episode 11: Spinda's Cafe

After the morning announcements, in which Chatot mentioned nothing about what happened last night, Chatot dismissed all teams to go to their regular duties. Team Renegades was not summoned, which actually shocked everyone.

David, however, obviously had something on his mind, which Cameron noticed immediately just by looking at the subtle changes in the way David was walking. Cameron called for his friend, who responded immediately.

"Yes?" asked David.

"I can tell something's on your mind. Why don't you tell me what's up?" asked Cameron.

"Well, it's about what happened yesterday. Considering everything, I think Tom got the... well, the short end of the stick, to be precise..." answered David.

"Yeah, I gave him ****, but I really didn't mean to drive him away. Still, doing nothing probably would've been even worse. Wherever he is right now, I hope he's thinking about the mistakes he's made, rather than thinking about getting back at me for going off on him..." responded Cameron.

"I just hope that he'll be OK... y'know, with that Grovyle out there and all..." said Jordan.

"Y'know, I've noticed that Jordan here hasn't spoken much since we got here... maybe it had something to do with being turned into a Pokemon? Still kinda strange... but it's not that important. Where do you guys wanna go today?" asked Cameron.

"Hey, how about those Amp Plains you always keep mumbling on about in your sleep? Could be fun!" answered Jordan with newfound energy.

"Jordan, think: What TYPE of Pokemon are you?" inquired Cameron.

"Water!" answered Jordan.

"Alright, good. Now, Jordan, if Amp Plains is any indication of what type of Pokemon are in there, then - AND FOLLOW ME ON THIS ONE - what good will it do to explore there?" asked Cameron.

"Hey, what am I, chopped liver?" muttered David in annoyance.

"Well, you were implied in that. I was just making sure Jordan here was still in check..." responded Cameron.

After a bit of silence, Cameron spoke again: "Good, so it's agreed that we're not going to Amp Plains." David and Jordan nodded their heads.

"Alright, now that that's out of the way, what say we think of something else?" asked David.

"Well, we could ask around town..." said Jordan.

But Cameron had already begun to leave the Guild, so David and Jordan had to trot off after him...

Back at Treeshroud Forest...

"Wow, that's one interesting story. Glad you told me before me and my team came after you..." said Tom.

"Thanks. There was one other being that came with me, but we split up during our travel into the past. I have no idea where she is right now, but I hope she's safe..." answered Grovyle.

"Well, what is she?" asked Tom.

"Pardon? Oh, you don't, by chance, mean what kind of Pokemon she is, do you?" asked Grovyle.

"Well, yeah! What, is she human or something?" responded Tom.

After a bit of silence, Grovyle finally responded with, "Actually, yes. She is a human. Or, possibly WAS, after you told me how YOU got here..."

"Yeah, it's kind of a blur... all I remember is being with my friends, and then - BOOM - here I am." said Tom.

"She was a human, one of the last humans alive in this world. I was in charge of protecting her..." responded Grovyle.

"Well, do you know her name? What she looks like? Anything?" asked Tom.

"I only remember her by her name... Lyla..." was all Grovyle could manage to whisper.

Back at Treasure Town...

Cameron had already exited the Guild and was about to prepare for an expedition when, suddenly, his path was blocked by a Wobbuffet.

"HELLO! What the..." cried Cameron in shock.

Suddenly, a voice behind him asked, "Well! Mr. Pikachu, haven't you heard?"

Cameron turned around to find a Wynaut standing behind him with David and Jordan coming down the stairs.

"Uhh... heard whaaaaaat, exactleeeee? Eeeeeeeeeeeeee..." responded Cameron in confusion.

"Well, i'll be! Today;'s the grand opening of Spinda's Cafe!" said the Wynaut.

Behind him, Cameron heard the Wobbuffet yell, "THAT'S RIGHT!"

After giving it some initial thought, Cameron said, "OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH! So THAT'S what that Spinda was up to... nice."

"The manager, Spinda, who's also our boss, bought that cave a few days ago and let us in on his dream - to open up a shop where Pokemon can turn their food items into refreshing drinks! Plus, we man the Recycle Shop, where you can turn your junk items - well, virtually any item you don't want - into us for items that can be very useful!" said Wynaut.

"THAT'S RIGHT!" repeated Wobbuffet.

"...does he do that EVERY time?" whispered Jordan to David.

"Probably. Could be an old habit..." answered David.

"Well, then... maybe we should take a look, then, right, guys?" asked Cameron.

"A-yup!" was David's response.

"YAAAAAAY!" yelled Jordan.

"Well, then... as our friendly neighborhood Wobbuffet would say..." said Cameron.

All 3 of the members of Team Renegades yelled, in unison, "THAT'S RIGHT!"

Team Renegades then proceeds into Spinda's Cafe. Inside, they find a massive amount of Pokemon surrounding the middle of the floor. Suddenly, a scream is heard from the middle of the crowd. In a state of panic, Cameron breaks through the crowd, only to find a female Pikachu and a Skuntank in the middle of a confrontation, with the Pikachu being badly injured.

"So? Are you going to apologize or what!?" demanded the Skuntank.

All the young Pikachu did was spit in Skuntank's face.

After bellowing a howl of anger, the Skuntank yelled, "FINE! You wanna play dirty!? TAKE THIS!", then prepared to use Smog.

Cameron, thinking on his feet, whacked the Skuntank with an Iron Tail straight to the skull. The Skuntank reared back in pain.

"Take WHAT, ***HOLE!? Didn't hear you right over the sound of me SPLITTING YOUR SKULL IN 2!" yelled Cameron in complete and confident defiance.

After muttering something about "those no-good goody two-shoes messing with stuff that don't concern them", the Skuntank left, with none other than...

After letting out a scoff, Cameron muttered, "Of course. It had to be Team IDIOTS... got a feeling that this ain't the end..." before helping the Pikachu whom he had helped up.

"Y'know, you didn't have to do that..." muttered the Pikachu.

"You're right. I didn't have to, but I wanted to. If you want something bad enough, ya can't let anything stand in your way, right? By the way, never properly introduced myself. Name's Cameron." responded Cameron.

Just then, David and Jordan piped up and introduced themselves.

"We're Team Renegades. Probably haven't heard of us, but that's fine. We haven't been an team for THAT long..." said Cameron.

"Nice to meet you guys. Guess it's time I introduced myself, isn't it?" asked the Pikachu.

"Weeeeeeell, it WOULD be normal, considering we introduced ourselves first..." responded David.

"Rrrrrrright. Anyways, my name's Lyla. I'm not what you would call your... "average" Pokemon..." responded the Pikachu.

"Well, you're in luck. We're not what you would call your... "average" team. Wanna join us in our adventures?" asked Cameron.

"Sure, I've got nothing better to do. Any catch?" asked Lyla.

"Well, if you consider exploring to exotic locales daily a "catch", then yes!" responded Jordan.

"Uhh... not really..." said Lyla.

"Oh. Then, no." answered Jordan.

"Well, then, why the heck not? I'm GAME!" yelled Lyla with excitement.

"Nice. Welcome to Team Renegades, Lyla. Shall we make it official at the Guild?" asked David.

"HAY! I wuz gunna ask dat..." said Cameron with sadness.

After that little conversation, Team Renegades, with their new member, set off for the Guild to make Lyla's initiation official...

Meanwhile, at Dark Crater...

"Yes... my plan is coming along all too well... soon, my rise to power shall be complete, and nobody can stop me! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" bellowed a sinister voice.

"Don't forget about our deal here, Mr. Shadow... you've promised me all the tortured souls I want, remember? You better keep your promise, or your rise to power's gonna be cut short!" said another sinister voice from behind.

"Don't worry, Soul Stealer. I've made sure to keep my end of the bargain, so keep your stone balanced!" growled the first voice.

The second voice scoffed, made a muttered comment about "hearing that one before", then left.

"Hehe... it's only a matter of time. Come, Hero of Sky... I await your challenge!" whispered the first voice.

Back at Treeshroud Forest, an hour later...

Tom and Grovyle had already called it a night and went to sleep, but a glow that made the moon up above seem like nothing more than a nightlight awoke Tom.

"What the..." muttered Tom, half-awake.

Opening the tent had Tom facing the Pokemon he had seen in his dreams. The one Pokemon that could cure nightmares, even permanent ones, in an instant. It was none other than the Lunar Pokemon herself, Cresselia.

"AAH!" yelled Tom.

"QUIET! Do not wake that Grovyle, or you shall suffer dire consequences!" hissed Cresselia. She looked mad.

"Oops! Sorry..." whispered Tom, instantly afraid.

"You let your emotions get the better of you and you turned your back on your friends. Why have you done this?" asked Cresselia with anger toned in her voice.

"But Cameron-" started Tom, but before he could finish, Grovyle exploded out of the tent, carrying Treeshroud Forest's Temporal Gear.

"THIEF! STOP!" yelled Cresselia, who then took off after Grovyle. Before disappearing, however, Cresselia ordered Tom to stay put.

Tom, however, didn't want to think about what Cresselia might do to him when she got back, so Tom fled out of the woods.

Meanwhile, back at the Guild...

"Well, it's official! This young girl... eh, Lyla, was it now?" asked Chatot.

"For the 5'th time, YES!" answered both Lyla and Cameron in unison with the same tone of annoyance and pitch. They both looked at eachother immediately, confused.

"Uhh... very... well, then... it's official - Lyla is now a member of Team Renegades!" said Chatot with delight.

"Awesome. I say we celebrate with a couple of drinks! Who's with me!?" yelled Cameron.

Everyone gave him a look of pure shock except for Chatot and the Guildmaster.

"Guys, come on. I don't mean alcohol..." muttered Cameron.

His team immediately started going on about how he should've thought before he blurted out. With that note in mind, Team Renegades heads for Spinda's Cafe...

Okay! Episode 11's got some suprise twists in it! A new member of Team Renegades comes on board while Tom and Grovyle are seperated! Who is this mysterious Pikachu who's joined the ranks? Will Tom and Grovyle be reunited? And WHAT THE HECK is up with that sinister Mr. Shadow and his partner, Soul Stealer, and their NEFARIOUS PLOT!? KEEP TUNED IN FOR THE NEXT EPISODE!

Also, GOOD NEWS! I may be getting an upgrade to my computer soon, so that means GOOD THINGS for EVERYONE! YAAAAAAAAAY!

That's it. CiNos OUT!


	12. Chapter 12: The Shadow's Hand

**Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky: Team Renegades**

Episode 12: The Shadow's Hand

After Lyla's induction into Team Renegades, the team went down to Spinda's Cafe for some smoothies made out of Berries that Cameron had managed to collect, including one in particular...

"Wait, isn't that a Rowap Berry?" asked Lyla when she and Cameron got up to the counter.

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh... I... actually don't know, to be honest. I just found it." replied Cameron.

"Wha- you DO know how RARE those Berries are? Nobody's managed to find one out in the wild for almost a decade! They're considered extremely valuable." said Lyla.

"Well, then... let's show it to Chatot, then, since neither one of us is quite sure what kind of Berry it is. If it's as rare as you say it is, it might be better to plant it and get more out of it..." responded Cameron.

Spinda looked quite sad at this news, but immediately perked up and asked, "Hey! Got any more Berries? I'd LOVE to make you guys some smoothies!"

"Why, of COURSE, Spinda! I came here to celebrate, and I'll be a battery if I don't walk outta here happier than I was when I walked in!" responded Cameron, who immediately showed Spinda his Berry collection.

"...Oran Berries, about 9 of them... common, but they make some of the best smoothies... Sitrus, those are even better than Oran... Got some Pechas, some Chestos, some Cheris... ooh, even got 2 Spelon Berries... AHH! WHAT'S THIS!?" exclaimed Spinda at the sight of one of Cameron's Berries.

"What? OH, you mean THIS?" asked Cameron, holding up the Berry.

"That... that's an Enigma Berry!" exclaimed Spinda, who then started to spin.

Cameron looked confused, so Lyla filled him in by saying, "You've got a very lucky find, Cameron. Those Berries haven't been found in over a century! Some Pokemon even said that they never existed in the first place... can I taste it?"

"Um, lemme thin- NO! If it's so rare as to make Spinda here... well, spin, then I'm gonna keep it and have more made! It'd be better in the long run for everyone!" responded Cameron, his face showing off his spirit: adamant, dead serious and, if looks could paralyze, Lyla would be out for a week.

"Oh... right. It's just that-" started Lyla.

Just then, Jordan yelled from across the room, "THE MEESE-MONGOLII ALLIANCE WILL TRIUMPH!"

After a moment of akward silence, Lyla yelled back, "Wait, WHAT!?", then stared at Cameron.

"What are you looking at ME for? I don't understand what's going on..." responded Cameron, still dumbfounded.

"Aaaaanyways... smoothies?" asked Spinda, now done spinning like a top.

"Oh, right. Yeah, give me a Cheri-Oran mix. Lyla?" asked Cameron.

"Same." responded Lyla almost instantaneously.

"Ewwkaaaaayyyyyyeeeeee... I'll have a Chesto-Sitrus mix for my Totodile companion over there, and for the Piplup... give him something to knock the energy outta him, will ya?" asked Cameron.

"Right! Coming up!" exclaimed Spinda, who started on the smoothies immediately. "Shake it this way... shake it that way... I'm gonna be a little while, so I'll call you when it's ready!"

"Great to hear. Thanks, Spinda!" responded Lyla.

"Yeah, man. Really awesome." chimed in Cameron.

Together, the 2 walked over to where David and Jordan were sitting. Jordan, looking happy as ever, immediately asked, "Where are da smoothies!?"

"Calm it, bro. He said he'll call us when they're done." answered Cameron.

"TEAM RENEGADES! TEEEEAM RENEGADES!" called Spinda.

"Aaaaaand that's a trolling. One count..." Cameron said before sighing and walking back over to Spinda.

"Here you go! I color-coded them for everyone, so nobody gets the wrong order!" exclaimed Spinda.

"Well, that's good to know. Thanks! Ehh, which one is mine?" asked Cameron.

"The one with yellow on it. Your Pikachu girlfriend got the brown one-" started Spinda.

"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA! Who said anything about GIRLFRIEND? Jumpin' the gun there, Spinda..." retorted Cameron.

"Oh. Well, lemme know how that turns out. Anyways, she got the brown one, the Piplup got the blue and the Totodile got the green. Anything else?" asked Spinda.

"No, that'll be it. Thank yehs!" responded Cameron.

"Alright! Lemme know if you need anything else!" said Spinda.

"Will do." responded Cameron.

As Cameron walked back to the table, sipping on his smoothie, he remembered about Tom for some reason and, while walking, almost started to cry. David saw this out of the corner of his eye and decided to see if something was wrong.

"Hey, Cameron. You alright?" asked David.

With a quick sniff, Cameron shoved his feelings aside and responded, "Yeah, it's just that I remembered Tom all of a sudden and I felt sorry for what I had done. I wish I could get the chance to apologize..."

"Hey, don't worry, my friend. If Tom's as strong-willed as he keeps trying to hide, he'll be fine. Hey, who knows? Maybe he's thought about you a bit..." responded David.

"Maybe..." was all Cameron could manage to mutter.

Later in the daytime, near a place called the Southeastern Islands...

A beautiful beach sat outlooking the area where Tom had finally lost his pursuer, Cresselia. In the process, however, Tom ended up losing track of Grovyle and was now alone. He was walking down the beach when he saw a shady Pokemon. Curious, Tom decided to investigate.

"HEY!" Tom called out to the figure, but it sat there motionless. Tom got a little bit closer, but the closer he got, the worse he felt.

The figure immediately turned to Tom when he strayed too close. In a shadowy voice, the creature asked, "Well, if it isn't the rouge Riolu of Team Renegades. I've been expecting you."

As soon as the shadow mentioned the explorer Team that Tom had left, Tom's weariness faded and became pure anger as he charged the figure. However, the shadow anticipated this attack and simply sidestepped Tom's rush.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW ME!?" demanded Tom.

After a slight chuckle, the figure said, "My dear Tom, you and your friends - well, your ex-friends - don't realize what you've gotten yourself into. If you join forces with me, I can help you exact the revenge you seek deep within your heart..."

Tom started to build his anger at Cameron again, then realized that, no matter what happened, Cameron and him were still friends. Tom then scoffed, then responded, "No thanks, I think I'll pass on 'revenge' - well, at least the type of revenge you're talking about."

The shadowy Pokemon sighed, then said, "Shame. You would've made a fine addition to my cause, but I suppose I'll have to eliminate you if you will not join my cause..." Then, with a mighty battle roar, the shadow charged at Tom.

"Not on my watch!" said a familiar voice from the shadows.

As soon as the strange Pokemon had Tom within his reach, a familiar silhouette appeared and striked the shadow with a Leaf Blade, which could only come from one Pokemon Tom knew. With the Leaf Blade doing damage, far more than the shadow expected, it recoiled. But, before disappearing into darkness, it yelled, "Don't think this is over, fools! Soon, my plan will be in full effect, and there will be nothing you can do to stop me!"

As soon as the shadow slipped into the darkness, the air gave sign of energy again. Tom, however, never felt any of it as he asked, "What was THAT!?"

Grovyle could only muster a face of one that symbolized a mixture of horror and rage as he hissed under his breath, "Darkrai... i'm coming for you..."

So, guys, that was Episode 12! Sorry about the long wait, but I've finally managed to get my series back into my schedule! Hopefully, things stay this way, because I really wanna keep writing this. I hope whoever's reading this series finds it interesting and keeps up with it, because I'd really like some fans.

Also, I guess you guys probably saw this coming, but I'm going to ask anyways: If you guys could give me reviews from here on out, that would be amazing and I would really appreciate it. Also, favorite/like the story/me? That'd be really swell!

Well, other than the obvious of saying next Episode will be coming soon, I've got nothing else to say. Shooooooowwwww... yeah. CiNos OUT!


	13. Chapter 13: Enter Team (Numb)Skull

**Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky: Team Renegades**

Episode 13: Enter Team (Numb)Skull

The next day, after Lyla's formal introduction into Team Renegades, Chatot made it apparent at the next morning announcements, where everyone welcomed her.

"Aww, thanks." was Lyla's response.

"Now that that's out of the way, I have a very important announcement to make. Soon, our Guild is going to be having an expedition!" announced Chatot (obviously).

The entire Guild, minus Team Renegades in a state of confusion, let out a cheer of hapiness.

"WAIT, HOLD IT! I didn't finish. This expedition is very selective, so only a couple of teams will be going on the expedition." reprimaned Chatot.

Immediately, the Guild fell into a state of quiet panic, minus a still flustered Team Renegades.

"To help us, we will be having a well-known Exploration Team join us. Guild, say hello to Team Skull!" announced Chatot.

Just then, a familiar trio of Pokemon walked into the Guild's 1'st layer in the mountain, a trio that the members of Team Renegades knew quite well. Team Skull was made up of none other than the Zubat, Koffing and Skuntank that Cameron had assisted Lyla in dealing with only yesterday. David looked quite shocked, Jordan got even MORE confused and Lyla nearly pissed herself in terror. The only one with a face of anything not related to sorrow was Cameron, who looked quite peeved.

"So, that's their game. Looks like it's-" whispered Cameron.

"-all downhill from here..." finished David, hanging his head low.

"You said it. Them here? I think I'm gonna have a heart attack..." peeped Lyla.

Just then, Skuntank started speaking.

"What's up, guys!? Team Skull's here to smash some heads for ya! If you need our help, we got your back!"

Cameron's expression turned from one of anger into one of secrecy. He slyly whispered to Lyla, "Team Skull? Heh. More like Team NUMBskull, eh, Lyla?", then burst into rampant giggling with his team member.

If Chatot had noticed, he said nothing about it. "Team Skull will be staying with us for a few days, so let's give them a good time here! Time to go to work!"

After hearing about the selective expedition, the Guild wasn't too thrilled to hear about Team Skull joining them. Their response was to give an unenthusiastic "Hooray...". Suddenly, the ground started shaking violently.

"Why is there an earthquake?" asked Lyla over the noise.

The rest of the Guild's attention was focused on the Guildmaster, who looked quite mad.

"YOOOOOOOM..." grunted the Guildmaster.

"HE'S GONNA BLOW!" yelled Jordan.

"Oh no, oh no... let's try this again! Time to go to work!" yelled Chatot in panic.

The Guild gave their best "HOORAY!" in months, unbeknownst to Team Renegades, who just started going, "WHOOO!" After that, the Guildmaster calmed down and became happy again and the earthquake stopped.

After that, Chatot and Cameron heaved a sigh of relief and said, "That was too close...", all in unison, which left Cameron in a state of confusion for a second.

With that in mind, Team Renegades remembered that their "brief vacation" was over and that they needed to take some jobs off of the Job Listings Board. Looking on the board, they all saw only one job left: investigation of a mysterious shadow in the Amp Plains that attacked Team Charm, the latter barely escaping with their lives.

"Team Charm?" asked Lyla.

"Yeah, they're apparently a big Exploration Team... I've heard quite a bit about them. They're an all-girls trio consisting of a Medicham, the brawn, a Gardevoir, the brains, and a Lopunny, their leader. It'd be nice to meet them in person, to, y'know, get some tips..." responded Cameron.

"Well, you seem to want to meet them really bad enough..." muttered David.

"NO, David. Not like that. They're famous and strong, so it'd be great to challenge them. That's my only reason behind it. What, you thought I was gonna hit on 'em?" asked Cameron.

"Well, yes. It was just me thinking out loud, pay me no mind." responded David, looking embarassed.

"Glad to see you're being outright with your feelings a bit, but try not to make me feel stupid, alright? Had enough of that for one lifetime..." asked Cameron.

"HEY! I found something!" yelled Lyla, looking ticked.

"Oops, forgot we were looking. Whatcha find, Lyla?" asked Cameron.

Immediately, Lyla showed off the post: finding a lost Cyndaquil in Apple Woods. The pay was actually extremely high for a post, but there was one problem...

"Lyla? You DID notice that this is a 3* Mission... right?" asked Cameron.

"Yeah, that's why it caught my eye in the first place. There's really nothing to worry about, Apple Woods is a cakewalk!" responded Lyla, confident as usual.

"Really? Well, let's snag this mission and- WAIT. Hold it..." Cameron said, then, after a groan, continued with, "Look at the person who posted it..."

The entirety of Team Renegades, minus Cameron, looked terrified. Jordan actually almost fainted from sheer terror at the sight of it.

"Oh, why Skuntank? This can't be right, there's gotta be some sorta trick!" groaned Lyla in confusion.

"Well, what seems wrong with THIS Mission? Seems legit... then again, it IS Skuntank... nah, I say we go for it. Who's with me!?" bellowed Cameron.

His team responded immediately with a heartfelt "YEAH!"

"WELL, THEN!? WHATCHU SLOWPOKES WAITING FOR!? LES DO DIS!" commanded Cameron.

The entirety of Team Renegades, with Lyla taking point, set off for Apple Woods after preparing, their heads held high.

Meanwhile, back at the Southeastern Islands...

Tom was training hard on the peak of the Islands, his headband pinned to a rock close by. He was in the middle of a fight with a Gallade, who appeared to be winning, until Tom used a well-placed Aura Sphere to one of Gallade's hips, lowering his speed and making him a huge target. He wasn't out of the fight, however, as the Psycho Blade that narrowly missed Tom proved that fact. Just when the Gallade almost finished charging a second Psycho Blade, Tom finished the battle with a Close Combat aimed stringently for his lower hip. The Gallade collapsed once Tom finished it with a final punch cloaked in aura and, at that moment, Tom was alone. He went back and grabbed his bandana, then walked on towards the peak. He looked out towards the sea, which, for only a few seconds, was calm. Suddenly, there was a huge earthquake!

"What the!?" yelped Tom in suprise.

Where the sea stretched almost endlessly to the other side of the world was now a huge scar of dark purple causing a bend in the space around it, with a pink bridge landing not too far from the peak. Tom, curious as ever, decided to go investigate this phenomena. After about an hour of walking on the out-of-nowhere bridge, Tom had found himself at the entrance to the strange scar in the middle of the sea.

"I wonder what kind of Pokemon lives in there...?" wondered Tom.

Suddenly, a pair of pink... eyes?... glared at Tom from the other side. Then, a voice:

"You... must help me... quickly, I do not have much time left... Thomas, Riolu of Retribution..."

Tom didn't know whether to attack the creatue, run or scream. Suddenly, he felt himself slowly walking towards the scar until it swallowed him into the Spatial Rift...

AY! I kept mah sheduel... awesome. Episode 13's pretty interesting, and I'm kinda proud of it. This schedule thing might actually work out... anyways, lemme know what you guys think of it in a Review, if you would. Please? I'm working really hard on this and I'd like some encouragement.

Well, that's all I have to say, other than MonsterCat. (500 Nerd Points to the first person who sends me a PM on what that's a reference to. 500 is a lot in my book, so figure it out!)

Done, so i'm gone. CiNos OOOOUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuutttt...


	14. Chapter 14: A Perfect Setup

**Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky: Team Renegades**

Episode 14: A Perfect Setup

Team Renegades, after finding a simple enough mission to take on, heads for Apple Woods with Lyla on point. In no time at all, they managed to reach the Apple Woods with no difficulty at all. At the entrance, however, something was wrong.

"Alright! We're... HUH!?" exclaimed Lyla.

The entire forest was covered with cracks in the ground emitting a blue aura that was slowly changing colors from a cool blue to a blood red.

"I'm gonna assume that's not normal..." said Cameron.

Lyla stood there, completely frozen in horror. Only her face showed anything other than that, which was a face of dead seriousness.

"We need to move. NOW." said Lyla.

"HUH!?" yelped David.

"There's no time to explain. MOVE, SLOWPOKES!" exclaimed Lyla before running off further into the Woods.

"Gonna also assume that the only Pokemon on our team who's lived in this world RUNNING TOWARDS A PROBLEM can only mean that this is some serious ****. Team, let's ROLL!" shouted Cameron, giving chase after Lyla.

David and Jordan had no choice but to follow. They didn't have to go far, though, as Cameron and Lyla had only made it into the Apple Woods before their path was barred by a trio of Pokemon. The one in the middle, however, was not a regular Pokemon. Its face was a literal swirl of a pinkish-purple energy with a pair of venom green eyes that looked like they were staring into your soul, a venom smile that was jagged to match.

"LET US THROUGH, FOR THE LAST TIME!" commanded Lyla.

"Sorry, hun, but that's not gonna happen unless you can beat us. If you ain't got the guts, I suggest you turn tail and run now." said the Pokemon in the middle.

His bodyguards let out a grunt, a Hitmontop and a Machamp, then got into fighting positions.

"No way around it... these guys are here for a specific reason: to block us. Let's see them block my little ace in the hole. I don't like to use it, but I'll make an exception this time..." said Cameron, who immediately started charging his hand in blue lightning, preparing to use a Chidori attack.

"I'll hold 'em off until you finish charging that." piped in Lyla.

But David wasn't going to wait for someone to attack. He charged in using a more massive version of Aqua Jet and hit the Machamp square in the chest, sending the bodyguard down flat on the ground, gasping for air. While the Hitmontop was occupied with being stunned, along with his boss, Lyla stepped closer to try and challenge him, but was ultimately too slow as Jordan charged with his entire flipper covered in ice, which was sharpened to a fine point, and slashed the Hitmontop's chest with it, sending the second bodyguard wildly spinning into a tree. Lyla, completely confused, but otherwise unharmed, watched as Cameron jumped over her and attacked the mystery Pokemon with his Chidori attack, sending it flying backwards.

The aftereffects of each attack had left quite a mark. Where David's massive Aqua Jet had hit, there was now a small crater that spanned 5 feet in diameter, Jordan's flipper blade attack had made any sort of plant or tree within a 3-foot radius to his left freeze, and Cameron's Chidori managed to make a huge line mark where the mysterious Pokemon had been sent flying, which was almost a quarter mile long.

"...what the **** JUST HAPPENED!?" asked Lyla, half in shock, half in awe.

"Nice job, guys. That worked out perfectly. Got names for those moves?" asked Cameron.

"Ehh, I've settled on Hydro Nuke. Jordan?" was David's response.

"Frozen Blade!" exclaimed Jordan.

"Sweet. Glad to see you guys are praticing some moves!" answered Cameron. Then, his expression got serious and he said, "Alright, something's messed up and we need to hurry. Lyla, you ever see this before?"

"...no... it's too soon..." Lyla whipsered, her face twisted in horror.

"I assume that you've pretty much forseen this?" asked David.

"...anyone interested in a story?" asked Lyla in a soft whisper.

"Never did explain how you got here when you said you weren't an 'ordinary' Pokemon. Sure, I'd love to listen to a tale." responded Cameron.

"YAAAY, storytime!" exclaimed Jordan with a big goofy grin.

"Alright, I guess it's time I told someone... sit down, guys." said Lyla, who began to tell the rest of Team Renegades about her story...

Inside the materialized plane of the Spatial Rift...

Tom had been following a giant dragon-type Pokemon for over an hour, looking at ancient markings on the walls. Somehow, the marks made sense to Tom, but he couldn't pin where he had seen them before. It all seemed too familiar... Most of the wall, however, was cracked and falling apart.

"...what is it...?" whispered Tom, his voice cracked.

"...my life force... written on these walls. My power... someone is trying to kill me..." came from the giant Pokemon.

"Wait, what? Who would want to kill you?" asked Tom.

"Someone who would want the world... to be destroyed. This is the work of that accursed-" said the giant Pokemon, starting to get worked up, the walls glowing a faint pink in the process. Then, it staggered and fell, with Tom not even 5 feet away from the impact. The pink aura emanating from the walls was gone, and the Pokemon itself was slowly starting to turn gray.

"Hey! Are you alright?" asked Tom, his voice in a panic.

"I have little time left... young Thomas, please allow me to... use your body as a vessel of repair. Quickly, my time has almost expired..." pleaded the giant Pokemon.

"YES! Quick!" yelled Tom in a panic.

Suddenly, the cave was engulfed in a flash of pink which seemed to consume Tom. When it had left, Tom was alone, the giant Pokemon gone. All that remained was an orb, which Tom attempted to pick up, but it was simply absorbed into his body, which had Tom pretty scared.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" screamed Tom.

"Young one... do not be scared. You are doing this world a very deep and very noble request. While I am unable to leave your body for quite some time, I am already starting to feel my strength returning. You have saved my life..." said a voice inside Tom's head.

"Wait, WHAT!? GET OUT!" bellowed Tom, now pissed off.

"ENOUGH!" said the Pokemon.

Tom couldn't help but think how horrible it was.

"Horrible? You should consider yourself extremely grateful that I allowed you to absorb me. My powers of bending space are open to you, as long as you use them for only good." responded the Pokemon.

"Really!?" exclaimed Tom, looking extremely happy.

"Well, of course. Since you've allowed me to use your body as a vessel to repair myself, it wouldn't be fair to let you have something out of the deal, right?" asked the Pokemon.

"This is amazing! I feel INCREDIBLE!" shouted Tom with glee.

"Remember, using my power for anything other than an act of kindness will be grounds for my reprimanding your abilities to use my powers until you perform another act of kindness. I am firm, but I will be fair, seeing as you seem to be alone..." was the Pokemon's response.

"Oh, wait! I almost forgot. What's your name?" asked Tom.

"...ah, yes, how foolish of me. Thomas, you didn't recognize me because I had to discard my mortal body for the time being and use the power of space to keep me whole. However, I have not forgotten anything. My body is simply at rest. But, we'll save that explanation for another time. My name, dear Thomas? You should already know the name of one of the 3 Deities of Sinnoh..." answered the Pokemon.

With a gasp, Tom yelled, "My body is being used by PALKIA!?"

Back at Apple Woods...

Lyla had just finished explaining the story behind her. She was a one half of a pair from a future of darkness that came back to change history, but she got seperated from her partner, who she didn't mention, trying to protect him while using the Passage of Time to travel back to the past.

"...so that's what's happening here, isn't it... pretty deep, Lyla." whsipered Cameron.

"Sorry for not telling you sooner, but I didn't know who to trust." responded Lyla.

"Hey, don't worry about it. You can trust us!" exclaimed David.

"Yeah. Actually, we're human, too... just not from this world." said Cameron.

"WHAT!?" asked Lyla in shock.

"Yeah. A world of only humans, where Pokemon is no more than a game for kids... but now that we know it exists and, while we're here, able to do something to help, we'll do what we can to prevent it, right, guys?" asked Cameron.

"Yeah!" was David and Jordan's simultaneous answer.

"Well, then!? What are we waiting for!? LET'S GO!" yelled Cameron, running further off into the Woods, with the rest of his team in pursuit.

A little while later...

Lyla and Jordan had managed to get seperated from the group, then from eachother, but, thanks to a pair of helpful Paras, they manage to meet back up, while Cameron and David had already reached the Perfect Tree. Sadly, when they got there, Team Skull appeared out of the shadows of the tree.

"YIPE!" exclaimed David.

"So... Team NUMBSkull, EH? Looks like someone needs to be taught a lesson..." growled Skuntank.

"Well, LOOK who decided to SHOW UP. Shoulda known something was fishy about this job... not a single Cyndaquil in sight. That's one mistake I'm gonna make you pay for." challenged Cameron.

"Well, SOMEONE has some nerve! Too bad the boss is gonna beat it outta you!" chided Zubat.

"As for your little Totodile friend there... I think leaving him for some bandits is a good idea after we're done with the both of you, don'tcha think?" said Koffing with a smirk.

"Was... was that supposed to be a joke?" asked Cameron before fully charging a Chidori in an instant and bellowing, "CAUSE I'M NOT LAUGHING!", simultaneously charging with the Chidori as he bellowed.

Skuntank tried to deflect the attack, but to no avail. Cameron's Chidori was aimed straight for Koffing as a result of his comment on Daivd (to no suprise...). Koffing was already damaged the moment the Chidori came into range, so it was no suprise that, when the Chidori impacted on him, he was done. Koffing slumped to the dirt, badly damaged. Where poisonous gases were supposed to be coming out of his body via the holes located everywhere on his body, it was a strange, black ooze coming out.

"WHAT!? NOO!" screamed Skuntank, but the damage had already been done.

"If he's going to live, you might wanna grab him and get him out of here. SOON." growled Cameron, pointing at Skuntank and Zubat.

"Why you LITTLE-" started Zubat, but a Flame Wheel attack to the head knocked him out as well.

"HEH!?" gasped David in suprise.

When the flames died down, there was a Cyndaquil standing in a small black patch of dirt, with small flames surrounding him.

"Sorry about the unexpected entrance, but I thought you guys could use some help. Was I wrong to interfere?" asked the Cyndaquil.

"No, you're just in time, actually. I honestly thought that I couldn't-" started Cameron, who was interrupted by a battle cry from an already airborne Skuntank, who was preparing to use Slam to crush Cameron...

Alright... I need to lay off the 360 for a bit and start focusing on my series. Sorry for the late post, guys, but I really wanted to play some Black Ops (finally Prestiged on it, thank GOD...). Anyways, Epsidoe 14! YEH! Done with that, gonna go play some more 360! It'll be swell!

I'm out. PEACE!


	15. Chapter 15: One Serious Struggle

**Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky: Team Renegades**

Episode 15: One Serious Struggle

Cameron braced himself for the impact, but there was no need; David and the Cyndaquil teamed up and delivered a water-fire combo attack that left Skuntank floating in the air.

"Hey, Cameron! Mind lending a hand here!?" shouted David.

Cameron instantly knew what was going on and was preparing to use Thunderbolt, but an Aura Sphere from nowhere hit him in the side, making him lose all of the energy he had built up while he was sent flying face first into a tree. When he got back up, he managed to roll just in time to dodge a second, much more larger Aura Sphere.

"What... the ****? That's not even funny..." grunted Cameron in pain.

"You should've seen this coming! NOW, YOU'RE GONNA PAY!" yelled an all too familiar voice...

"...TOM!?" gasped Cameron in shock.

Just then, an Aura Sphere hit the tree to Cameron's immediate left, forcing him to roll to avoid asphyxiation from the tree now on fire.

"Tom, STOP! Are you trying to burn the whole forest down just to kill me!?" roared Cameron.

"SHUT IT!" bellowed Tom.

Another Aura Sphere, this time sent to Cameron's right, set another tree on fire, setting the rest of the forest ablaze. Just then, Tom let out a cry of pain as he appeared right where Cameron was 3 seconds ago, with someone unexpected attacking him.

"...so it's you... Grovyle, I assume. Come to take me on?" asked Cameron, a calm now covering the storm of fear he had moments ago.

"Actually, yes. After hearing about how skilled you are from your friend, Thomas, I felt that you deserved a fair challenge." responded Grovyle, unceremoniously dropping Tom in the clearing.

"Think it could wait until AFTER this is resolved? Kinda was in the middle of something, although I'll thank you for saving me from Tom. Wonder what crawled up his ***hole and died..." pondered Cameron.

"Fine, I'll assist you. Once this is resolved, however, I want a one-on-one with you." demanded Grovyle.

"Well, sir... you've got yourself a deal." answered Cameron with a smirk on his face.

Together, the two of them charged at Skuntank, who was still, with David and the mysterious Cyndaquil still somehow miraculously holding him up, in midair, looking like he had lost a boxing match. Grovyle grabbed Cameron, much to the latter's protest ("What the - HEY!" yelped Cameron in suprise), threw him, then attacked with Leaf Blade while Cameron, who had recovered from shock, used an Iron Tail. The Leaf Blade, with Grovyle's careful guidance and precision, struck right in the middle of Skuntank's spine and the Iron Tail did a repeat of back at Spinda's Cafe, with Cameron striking a finishing blow to the skull of Skuntank, making him lose conciousness on impact and ending the struggle. With that, David, seeing that the Cyndaquil was out of energy and falling, grabbed his newfound ally and used Aqua Jet to avoid Skuntank's not-completely-intentional Slam attack, which left a crater about 3 feet in diameter.

After that, Lyla and Jordan appeared and, upon seeing the forest fire, put it out, Lyla using well-placed Thunderbolts to weaken old flames with brand new ones, forcing the flames to die out by battling eachother, while Jordan started freezing all of the trees, which suprisingly worked out extremely well. Within 1 minute, the forest fire had finally ceased, with most of the trees still miraculously intact. With the storm having passed over our heroes, Cameron decides to confront Grovyle.

"HYAAAAAH!" roared Cameron as he charged Grovyle with a Chidori.

Grovyle's quick thinking led him to be able to stand his ground as the attack connected, doing normal damage due to the type-matchup cancelling out the Chidori's power. As the lightning surrounding Cameron's hand faded, Grovyle prepared to use Leaf Blade, but to no avail; Cameron, using his superior speed, dodged it with ease. Grovyle, however, wasn't done yet, as he used Pursuit to attempt to track Cameron, but that was apart of Cameron's plan, who was waiting for Grovyle to attempt to charge at him, which Grovyle did while using Pursuit to get a clean hit. Suddenly, an orb appeared in Cameron's hand, one made out of pure energy. It shone brightly, lighting the entire clearing next to the Perfect Tree in a calming shade of blue.

"My ace in the hole! RASENGAN!" bellowed Cameron as Grovyle got too close to disengage.

Cameron struck with the Rasengan straight to Grovyle's chest, with it only doing electric damage at first. The ball, however, grew larger and larger until Grovyle was completely covered, head to toe, in the attack. With one last roar of defiance, Cameron set off the Rasengan like a bomb, covering the entire area in a flash of light blue. After the light had finally died down, the battle was over, with Cameron panting heavily over his opponent, the now fainted Grovyle.

"*huff* *huff* that... *gasp* was TOO... *gasp* close... uhhhh..." said Cameron before he passed out from exhaustion.

Some time later...

Cameron, finally having regained conciousness, woke up slowly. He regained focus in only 3 seconds, but he saw that he had been trapped somewhere so dark, it was almost impossible to see.

"What the... great. Just where I wanna be. Nowhere..." muttered Cameron.

"Actually, you are not alone..." whispered a voice Cameron didn't recognize.

"Random voice in darkness. Usually not good, but, EH, what the heck. HELLO!?" Cameron called out.

Suddenly, in a flash of pink, Tom appeared across the way. He was already awake and ready to fight, with Cameron being worse for wear.

"Finally, you two can have a fair match." said the voice.

"Palkia, when I get ahold of YOU-" started Tom.

"Wait, you mean THE Palkia? Controller of Space? Ouch, Tom, not a good idea to piss him off..." interjected Cameron.

As soon as Tom saw Cameron, it was as if silent death threats were sent back and forth between the once good friends.

"Hey, Palkia, can you keep him there for a sec? Need to ask you some questions." asked Cameron.

"Sure, why not." responded Palkia.

Tom was then trapped in a Spacial Rend in midair, unable to move.

"Ask away, there's no way he's getting outta that." said Palkia.

"I gotta fight him?" Cameron asked with swiftness.

"Yup." responded Palkia just as fast.

"This help you in any way?" asked Cameron.

"It'll repair my body." answered Palkia.

"Any way outta this?" questioned Cameron.

"Surrender or K.O. from either." answered Palkia.

The Spacial Rend surrounding Tom had disappeared after Palkia answered Cameron the third time, which, now that he was free, meant Tom could attack Cameron now, which he did by charging with a battle cry ("GYAAAAAAAH!" yelled Tom).

After squinting his eyes, Cameron said, "Bring it on.", to that which he used his speed to dodge Tom's rush.

Once that happened, the battle commenced. Tom tracked Cameron the entire time, sending a flurry of Aura Spheres Cameron's way. To counter this move, Cameron used Double Team to confuse Tom while he attempted to get close. Cameron failed to get close enough to Tom twice, but Tom had used up a lot of energy with his seemingly endless barrage of Aura Spheres, which sent too much aura into the surrounding area for Tom to be able to track Cameron efficiently. Cameron, understanding the situation, took advantage of the time he had to prepare a Rasengan attack to end it, but Tom spotted the massive aura concentration and prepared to use a move he had created while training. Once the attacks were fully charged, the two rivals charged at eachother.

"Come on, then! AURA BOMB!" yelled Tom.

"Rasengan, don't fail me now..." muttered Cameron.

As soon as the 2 orbs clashed, the power emanating from them was so great, Palkia felt himself returning to full power. Once he had regained his strength, he absorbed the giant orb between Tom and Cameron, then sending them back to the Apple Woods.

"What the heck just happened!?" asked Tom as soon as they were back.

"...that ******* used us. Palkia's back to full strength, thanks to us. Who knows what he was planning..." growled Cameron.

"Uh, guys? WHAT THE **** HAPPENED TO YOU!?" bellowed Lyla.

Completely caught off guard by Lyla's sudden outburst, Tom and Cameron had no idea what to say.

"... Palkia... used them to repair himself. It was... for the good of the planet, my dear Lyla..." grunted Grovyle.

"Oh no! GROVYLE!" Tom screamed, rushing over to his friend.

As Tom came within a respectable distance, Grovyle instantaneously got up and engulfed the entire area in a blinding Flash. When it was gone, so too was Tom and Grovyle.

"****IT! They got away..." growled Cameron.

"It wasn't your fault. Grovyle's crafty and he knows when he's beaten, so he took advantage of the situation... they'll be back, don't worry about it." responded Lyla.

"HEY! We could use a hand over here!" yelled Jordan from across the way.

After being heavily damaged from the destruction that surrounded him, it was an amazement that Cameron could even stand up, let alone walk around as if nothing happened, looking like he just narrowly escaped death itself. After taking a few experimental strides, Cameron made his way over to the rest of the team, who was now surrounding the injured Cyndaquil that had risked his life to help a group he knew nothing about.

"Will he make it?" asked Cameron.

"Well, yes. He'll be fine, no worries. Only exerted himself a little bit too much, just needs rest." responded David.

With a sigh, Cameron responded, "That's a relief. I thought he had gotten hurt..."

Remembering their mission, Cameron grabbed a dozen Perfect Apples, with the Perfect Tree itself being, by some miraculous string of luck, completely unharmed. After that, Team Renegades set back for Treasure Town to tell Chatot what happened...

In a far away place known only to few as the Sea of Time...

The waters raged and churned violently, with tornadoes going off everywhere. In the middle of it all stood Temporal Tower, the home of Dialga, Protector of Time. Something was wrong, however, as it seemed as if the tower itself was close to collapsing.

At the top stood Dialga, but something was wrong. A dark cloud swirled above his resting place, the Temporal Pinnacle, and his body was horribly changed. His normal blue skin was now a dark navy, and the veins on his body, normally a light blue, were now a fusion of orange and red, with the blue gem embedded in his chest now a blood red.

"My tower... no! I must protect... the flow of time!"

With that being said, madness took over, and Dialga let out a terrifying roar, signaling the future of darkness...

Well, that's Episode 15 for ya. This is gonna be a second update to make up for missing my Friday deadline by 2 days, but this should be enough to hold you guys over until this Friday! At least I hope it will...

Anyways, looks like the story's getting deeper, so it's time to kick things up a notch! I'll be seeing you guys Friday (I hope) for Episode 16! WHOO!

This is CiNos, signing off! PEACE!


	16. Chapter 16: Next Up, Fogbound Lake!

**Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky: Team Renegades**

Episode 16: Next up, Fogbound Lake!

After making it back safely into Treasure Town, Team Renegades gave their report to Chatot, along with Cameron's personal account of what had happened.

"You say you... HEALED Palkia? That is something interesting..." replied Chatot once Cameron had finished his story.

"He used me and Tom to generate enough power to heal himself. Clever..." said Cameron.

"Ah, about your close encounter with that scoundrel, Grovyle... it's a shame that you couldn't capture him, but it's very good to know that you fared well against him, despite your-" was what Chatot managed to say before Lyla smacked him in the face.

"WHY YOU!" yelled Lyla.

Cameron intervened by stepping in between the two and knocking out Lyla with a well-aimed Iron Tail to the side of Lyla's skull.

"Well, I NEVER! Although, I can't help but feel that she knew why she hit me for saying that... I'll confront her about it tomorrow. OH, I almost forgot! How many Perfect Apples did you manage to obtain?" asked Chatot, now standing after being attacked.

"Oh, right. Almost forgot about that... here." answered Cameron, giving Chatot the 12 Perfect Apples.

"...well? Is that all you managed to obtain?" asked Chatot.

"Those were the ones I could find in the best condition. The battle had either posioned or burned the rest. Sorry if it's not enough..." responded Cameron.

"Well, considering the circumstances, I guess you did well on this mission. Now, Cameron. About that Pokemon you managed to rescue..." said Chatot, who then started to give Cameron the report on the Cyndaquil...

Upstairs, in the infirmary an hour later...

The Cyndaquil rescued by Team Renegades had finally rested enough to wake up. However, he had sustained an injury to the skull when he landed on the dirt in Apple Woods, making his head hurt. Fighting through the pain, he searched for the team that saved him, finding them in their room. Once he entered, the entire team took notice.

"Hey, look who's up! How ya feelin, champ?" asked Lyla.

"My head hurts a bit, but other than that, I feel fine..." responded the Cyndaquil.

"...alright, if you say so. By the way, I never caught your name..." said Cameron.

"Oh, right. Guess the heat of battle got to us all, eh? My name's Adam. Nice to meet you guys!" responded Adam.

"Nice to meet ya, Adam. Name's Cameron. Our other Pikachu team member's Lyla, the Totodile goes by the name of David and our resident crazy Piplup calls himself Jordan." said Cameron.

"Hi!" said Lyla.

"Greeting, seeker of truth and knowledge." said David.

"YAAAAY!" exclaimed Jordan.

Just then, Loudred called, "ALL TEAMS, FRONT AND CENTER!"

Team Renegades was out of their sleeping areas immediately, rushing towards what they called the Summon Grounds. Unbeknownst to them, Adam had decided to follow them.

Once the entirety of the Guild had arrived at the Summon Grounds, Adam included, Chatot began.

Once he cleared his throat, Chatot announced, "I will now announce the teams going on the Fogbound Lake exploration with myself, the Guildmaster and Team Skull. Let's see here..." Chatot then went on to say the name of every team in the Guild, only realizing once he called the last team on the list, Team Renegades (to which that specific team didn't look too happy with that).

"Uhh, Guildmaster? Everyone in the Guild is on the list, are you sure about this?" asked Chatot.

"Why, of course! Everyone's worked hard over these past couple of days! It would've been unfair if any of these wonderful Pokemon were left behind! Quite a shame." responded the Guildmaster.

"Ehh, well, then. I guess nobody gets left behind! This should prove to be quite interesting..." said Chatot.

To that good news, the entire Guild cheered. Even Team Skull, coming in to hearing the good news, put a smile on their smug faces. Once Cameron spotted them, his good mood dissipated, replaced with a sour disposition.

"Friendly friends returned!" exclaimed Wigglytuff.

"Well, then. That's some more good news, it would seem... anyways, that's it for the night! Let's all enjoy dinner!" exclaimed Chatot, to which the Guild gave a hearty, "HOORAY!"

After dinner, Team Renegades, much like the rest of the Guild, went back to their room to discuss the plan for how to help the Guild tackle Fogbound Lake, as well as what to do with Adam...

"Well, there is the possibility of him joining us, y'know..." insisted David.

"Mmm... yeah, but I don't really think a squad of 5 would be very effective unless everyone was playing to their strengths and covering up everyone else's weaknesses. That would take a long time to get right..." responded Cameron.

"Maybe he could make his own team?" asked Jordan.

"That would be an excellent idea, should he have someone to help him in actually STARTING another Exploration Team..." rebutted Cameron, to which Jordan just looked away after that.

"Actually, I've... kinda already discussed it with Chatot, and he said I could train with the Guildmaster..." chimed in Adam.

"HEH!?" yelped David in suprise.

"Huh... well, that's good to hear. Glad to see it's gonna work out for you, Adam!" said Cameron.

"Thanks, I'm really looking forward to it. Can't wait to get started during the expedition!" responded Adam.

"That soon? Not bad, man..." said David.

"WHELP, I'm gonna hit the hay. Night, guys..." said Cameron, ending his part of the conversation.

The entire group said "Goodnight" as Cameron hooked himself up to the Recharger. Just as he finished putting the equipment on, Lyla asked, "Wait! Do you mind if I sleep with you in the Recharger tonight? Please?"

"...wait, whaaa...?" responded Cameron, somewhat confused.

"I just wanna see if it'll help me wake up in the morning. PLEASE?" begged Lyla.

"...meh. Why not, there's enough room in here. Just don't get too close, mmkay?" responded Cameron, already half-asleep.

Lyla, after letting off a cheer, entered the Recharger, which was sort of like a personal Healing Chamber for Electric-Type Pokemon. It had a bunch of fancy decorations on the top, which was a small dome made out of iron, as was the very bottom. The middle was made entirely out of glass that was completely shock-impervious, making any attack useless. The energy source was a crystal made from the orb Cameron had found back on Mt. Bristle, which supplied the Recharger with unlimited energy at any rate that the machine needed. The iron was colored a bright yellow so as to identify it as a useful tool for Electric-Type Pokemon. The floor was made of a cushion that absorbed, then dicharged, energy, courtesy of the orb once again, which was hidden in a small box behind the Recharger.

Once Lyla stepped in, she immediately felt tired from what had happened during the day. She slumped to the plush floor of the Recharger, completely spent of energy, and, coincidentally, landed right next to Cameron. During the night, however, the Recharger would not only give the two Pikachus the energy to get through the next day, but also the power to face the long journey ahead...

In the morning...

"Hey! Up and at 'em, champ!" said Lyla.

However, Cameron couldn't really hear much because he was still sleeping. However, it wouldn't stay that way for long...

"RECRUIT! WAKE UP OR YOU'RE WATCHIN' THE GUILD WHILE WE'RE GONE!" yelled Loudred.

Cameron, with his advanced hearing, jolted awake.

"AHH! What the... no." said Cameron.

"WHAT!?" yelled Loudred again.

"Loudred... you have 3 seconds... to start running." growled Cameron.

"What's THAT supposed to MEAN!?" yelled Loudred for the third time.

"ONE..." shouted Cameron.

"Oh, HURP!" yelped David.

"What?" asked Lyla.

"TWO..." shouted Cameron again.

"RUUUN!" screamed Jordan, running away from the room.

"PLEASE! What can HE possibly do?" asked Loudred.

Suddenly, Cameron, while screaming, immediately leaped at Loudred and knocked him out with an instant Chidori. He then calmly walked out of the room, a narrow, serious look now emblazoned onto his face. In the Team Renegades' room, however, everyone had a look of terror or sorrow for what had just happened.

Outside...

Cameron had calmed down, but he still couldn't push the guilt that had overcome him for what he had done. He was sitting down on the top stair when Chatot flew down and landed right next to him.

"Well, I've heard and seen what happened. Cameron, you have to learn to contron your temper! It's not healthy for you to snap like that..." said Chatot.

"...usually, I only scare people when I snap, but this time, I hurt someone... why can't I control my anger the way I used to?" asekd Cameron to nobody in particular.

"Maybe you're just having a hard time adjusting to life at the Guild! Trust me, it'll get easier." responded Chatot.

"Yeah... yeah, I think you're right. I got so caught up in keeping up the Guild's reputation, I felt as if my mind was just a ticking time bomb ready to explode. Maybe I wasn't ready for this kind of responsibility yet..." said Cameron.

"Maybe you weren't at first, but I can see that you've definitely learned a lot in the time you've been here. I think that you'll be a fine leader, and I haven't been wrong yet!" exclaimed Chatot with glee.

"Thanks. I'd probably think that you wouldn't want me on the expedition and if you wouldn't, I can understnad that..." muttered Cameron.

"Oh, quite the opposite! The Guildmaster was quite sick of Loudred's constant yelling and was quite satisfied that someone taught him a lesson! He was so grateful, he's allowing YOU to lead the expedition to Fogbound Lake!" exclaimed Chatot with extreme excitement, his face having a bird's version of a smile (well, that's the way Cameron interpreted it...).

"WHAT!?" screamed Cameron with terror.

"Hmm? Something wrong?" asked Chatot.

"Whoa! I mean, my team is enough responsibility, but THIS!? What was the Guildmaster THINKING!? I... I can't. Asking me to keep the entire Guild safe, I just couldn't do that..." responded Cameron, still terrified but calmed down a bit now.

"Oh... well, if that's how you feel... maybe I was wrong for once... I guess I'll inform the Guildmaster of your desicion..." said Chatot with a hint of sadness.

Cameron, feeling bad about opening up, said, "Wait!", to which Chatot turned around with curiosity.

"If you could get the Guildmaster to agree to lead it WITH me, I'll do it." said Cameron.

"Well, how can I say no to reason? I'll inform the Guildmaster of your desicion!" chirped Chatot with glee, who flew off back into the Guild.

Once he had gone inside, the rest of Team Renegades came out of hiding and walked over to Cameron, who was feeling much better. He knew, however, that this trip would be a long one and, informing his team of what will happen, told them he was going to prepare ahead of time, racing ahead to prepare for something that he knew he was ready for...

Okay! So, yeah. Remember that whole update thing every Friday? Yeah, too narrow of a window, so I'm gonna open that window a bit more and make it at least 1 update per weekend (starting from Friday). Still doesn't make up for the fact that I missed the deadline, but, y'know, I AM still in High School, so the final strech from the end of the 3'rd Quarter to the end of school is kinda cutting into my freewriting time. Luckily, I'll be able to keep on top of my series more during Summer Vacation, so that'll make up for it! (Well, let's hope it will, eh?"

Anyways, don't worry, I'm still working on the series, but don't be suprised if you don't see an Episode during the scheduled time. Also, be prepared for late Monday updates and SHTUFF. Other than that, I think that's it. CiNos is OUT! POICE!


	17. Chapter 17: Water Under the Bridge

**Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky: Team Renegades**

Episode 17: Water Under the Bridge

At Fogbound Lake...

It had taken the entire Guild only a day to reach the starting point to Fogbound Lake. They had already set up shop with the careful guidance of Cameron and the Guildmaster, the former of the 2 having the main plan of design configured. Cameron's idea to make a giant fireplace ultimately fell short due to the lack of combustible materials ("Well, that's a bummer..." muttered Cameron a little while afterwards), but the circle of stones remained as a boundary for training drills. It actually served much use, because once Cameron was done helping with the heavy lifting (which Loudred and Croagunk seemed to be doing), he started to accept training challenges.

His first opponent, Lyla, stepped into the ring and prepared for the battle.

"What? No witty remark? No boasting of your skills? Just gonna be like that, huh..." said Cameron in response.

Suddenly, Lyla leapt forward and started off with an Iron Tail, which Cameron, while unprepared for this sudden attack, still managed to dodge and counter with his own Iron Tail, to which it was successful in connecting, but it only caused minimal damage. Lyla was back on her feet in a second, but she looked mad.

"Alright, then. I see I'll have to pull out my secret weapon a bit early..." whispered Lyla to nobody, still rising.

However, when she looked up, Cameron was nowhere to be found, but she could hear birds chirping behind her. She turned around, only to find Cameron standing right there with a Chidori charged and ready to fire.

"Hey. 'sup?" said Cameron nonchalantly.

Lyla had no time to respond after that. Cameron delivered the Chidori with breakneck speed and sent her flying, but Lyla absorbed most of the energy of the attack on her own. However, the fast palm strike still took a toll on Lyla, as she started breathing more deeply.

"Ugh. Not good..." growled Lyla.

What happened next was both surprising and obvious; Cameron prepared to use a Chidori once more, with Lyla ready to block. The surprising twist was what Cameron did with it; as soon as he was within striking distance of Lyla, he jumped up and threw the Chidori like a ball right next to Lyla. The end result was an explosion, which Lyla had no chance of dodging. She immediately attempted to try and slow her rate of speed at which the explosion threw her, but it didn't help and she hit the wall hard with a sickening _WHUMP!_, seemingly marking the end of the battle, which, at that point, lasted about 7 minutes. However, Lyla still had some fight left in her, as she managed to get back up, looking madder than hell.

"So, you thought I was done. Well, guess WHAT!?" yelled Lyla, challenging her team leader.

"Oh, good, I thought you were done already. So, whatcha got now, sweethart?" asked Cameron, still calm.

Hearing what Cameron had just said set Lyla aback a bit, because she started to blush. Cameron, seeing this opporitunity, decided to attempt to end the battle quickly by using Quick Attack to get close and follow up with an Iron Tail. However, Lyla saw this coming and used Thunder Wave to slow Cameron down, making it nearly impossible for him to use Quick Attack without disrupting his nervous system. That left him vulnerable to Lyla's last resort move...

"HA! It's OVER! ZAP CANNON!" bellowed Lyla, launching an overcharged Zap Cannon.

Cameron had little time to react as the attack came withing range, but he managed to deflect it with an Iron Tail towards the middle point between himself and Lyla, setting off a massive explosion in the middle point between the two Pikachus. Lyla had managed to prepare for it, but Cameron simply didn't have a prayer as the explosion sent him flying into the wall. However, Cameron managed to bounce off of a stone and charge Lyla with a Rasengan attack, hitting her dead on with all the power he could muster put into it. A third explosion, once Lyla had been completely engulfed in the attack, served to knock out both combatants; Lyla was damaged too badly from the Rasengan, but it cost Cameron all of the energy he had, meaning he lost consciousness while delivering the final blow only a second after Lyla did. The battle was over, and Cameron was victorious.

Once the two combatants regained consciousness within the medical tent that had been set up, Lyla's desicion to confront Cameron started off well, but would soon turn into a disaster.

"Well, it seems that you've got some power on ya. Good job, I thought I had you there for a second." said Lyla.

"Oh, really? Well, thank you for that, but I wouldn't sell you short of glory there, princess. Remember that you had me on the ropes there." responded Cameron.

"Someone's modest." whispered Lyla.

"Well, sometimes... yah just gotta be nice. Can't always be steel-hearted, now, can I?" asked Cameron.

"You mean like with the Tom incident." remarked Lyla.

Cameron, who was not in the mood for anything negative, took direct offense to that and decided to challenge Lyla and her offensive comment.

"Why would you say something like that? You know that's a sore subject for me, yet you didn't respect that. WHY!?" demanded Cameron.

"Struck a nerve there, champ?" asked Lyla.

"WHY WOULD YOU GET INVOLVED IN SOMETHING THAT DOESN'T CONCERN YOU!?" yelled Cameron, visibly mad.

Lyla was not expecting to be yelled at, so her response was to run out of the medical tent, crying.

"I'm sick of other people telling me what I do wrong, Lyla. Had you'd known that little fact, I wouldn't have had to snap like that. Next time, think about someone else's feelings before you speak something they don't wanna hear. Nobody... knows my pain. NOBODY..." hissed Cameron once Lyla had left.

A little bit away from the entrance to Fogbound Lake...

Tom and Grovyle were on their way to take the Temporal Gear located in Fogbound Lake (according to Grovyle). It seemed as if nothing could touch them, but Grovyle had already used so much energy in keeping pursuers off of him and Tom, he could barely walk. Tom was using his connection to aura as a Riolu to keep Grovyle awake and alert, but it was draining his energy at a bit of a fast pace. He was adamant, however, about pushing on to get to the Temporal Gear and help repair the already dying planet.

"Thomas. Listen to me..." muttered Grovyle.

If Tom had some resentment towards Grovyle about being called by his birthname, he gave no sign of it as he said, "Yeah?"

"We need to rest so that we can take on any opposition, alright? I can tell you're tired due to your weakened state of health, but I know you want to help me in my quest. You must think of your well-being for once and not the well-being of others. That time will come, but that time is not here. Not yet..." said Grovyle.

"Right... yeah, I'm really tired. Let's find a nice place to sleep for the night..." answered Tom with a heavy yawn.

They found a nice clearing after only a minute of searching, so they set up camp rather quickly, making sure not to make any marks in the land so to make sure nobody could use this specific spot to find them. Then, satisfied that they were reasonably secure, they let their guard down and started to drift off...

Later, once Tom had felt that he was well-rested, he got up. Grovyle was sleeping, but a certain Pikachu had taken up a spot right next to him, looking like a wreck.

"Maybe I should see what's wrong..." said Tom, feeling somewhat sorry for the lone Pikachu.

Lyla had just begun to wake up when she saw Tom and, still feeling sad, got up and hugged him, crying into his shoulder. Grovyle, hearing the noise, awoke with a start, ready to fight. The sight that met his eyes and the voice he heard crying had gave him a look of pure shock.

"L... LYLA!?" yelled Grovyle.

Lyla instantly turned to Grovyle, who instantly embraced both her and Tom, who happened to be in the middle of the reunited duo, both of them crying with tears of joy. Tom, who felt sorry for both Pokemon, but was extremely uncomfortable, couldn't decide what to do. However, just as soon as the hug between Lyla and Grovyle started, it was over, and Tom breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sorry, Tom, but I was so excited to see Lyla again! However, I must ask you how you turned into a Pikachu..." said Grovyle.

"I... can't answer that. I don't know how it happened. All I remember is you and me going through the Passage... then, after remembering to protect you from something in there, I felt a heavy pain, then... I can't really remember much after that. I heard you speaking to me, but I thought that was a dream. Next thing I know, I wake up on a beach close to Treasure Town and... well, I met Tom's Exploration Team not even a week later under a bit of trouble, ehehe... now? I don't know what to do. I got yelled at by Cameron for..." said Lyla, unable to finish her sentence.

"What happened between us?" finished Tom.

"Wha... how did you - WAIT. Nevermind." responded Lyla.

"Yeah. Pretty much." said Tom out of nowhere.

"Well... now that that's cleared up... somehow... shall we make our appearance to the Guild known, Tom?" asked Grovyle.

"Yup! Let's DO IT!" exclaimed Tom.

"Wait, you're not gonna attack them, are you?" asked Lyla.

"No, of course not. We're simply going to track down Tom's friend and... have a talk." responded Grovyle with a precise calm.

"A... _talk_?" asked Lyla.

Suddenly, Tom was gone in a blinding flash of aura, with Grovyle doing the same only a split second later. Lyla, unsure of what to do, stood there, thinking. If Grovyle and Tom thought they could take on the entire Guild by themselves, they were hopelessly outmached in Lyla's opinion. Unless...

Lyla gasped, then took off running back the way she came...

Back at the campsite...

Cameron was in a heated match with Croagunk, and both sides had taken heavy damage. Cameron was fighting multiple wounds to his back, one in particular that hit his spine, and a creeping poison from a lucky Poison Sting inflicted by Croagunk. His opponent, however, wasn't faring much better; Croagunk's injuries were more severe than Cameron's, along with crippling paralysis that slowed his movement to a crawl. The battle for both combatants was far from one-sided, however, as both combatants struggled to get the finishing blow.

However, Grovyle and Tom had hoped for this, and Tom had already prepared to hit Cameron with an Aura Sphere. It was overcharged and ready to fire, and it was locked onto Cameron, so Tom let the Sphere fly.

Cameron saw the Sphere coming straight for him and knew he couldn't dodge it, so he did the next best thing. He closed the distance between himself and Croagunk, who was stunned by the Aura Sphere from nowhere, grabbed his opponent and managed to drag Croagunk in front of the area where the Aura Sphere would hit himself for protection. As he had hoped, the Sphere hit Croagunk instead, who was engulfed by it as Cameron threw his opponent away. Croagunk's injuries were too great and, as soon as the Aura Sphere collapsed, Croagunk slumped to the dirt, unconscious.

Tom and Grovyle chose that moment to come out of hiding and attempt to grab Cameron. With him in a weakened state and them at full strength, it should've been simple...

...but Cameron saw them coming from the second Tom launched the Aura Sphere and had prepared for them by eating a Pecha Berry, then 2 Sitrus Berries. Once Grovyle moved in to try and grab him, he saw his opening, dodged and charged at Tom with a Chidori, letting out a battle cry as he charged...

So, what's up, guys? CiNos is here and very well alive, apologizing in advance for the delay of this Episode. I had to get some stuff sorted away, but I have EXCITING NEWS! I have recently acquired a newer computer tower, so, hopefully, I'll be able to start making YouTube videos soon! (Nothing really major, just some handhelds recorded off of the VBA on it for now, gonna do some bigger things later...) But, as for my FanFiction series, I've still got a lot of things planned, and I'm hoping to get home soon and work on the next Episode! For now, this is CiNos, signing off! POICE!


	18. Chapter 18: Water Under the Bridge Part2

**Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky: Team Renegades**

Episode 18: Water Under the Bridge - Part 2

Tom, who didn't think that Cameron was ready to fight again, was taken aback by the sudden charge, but he knew what to do. Qucikly, but expertly, Tom sidestepped, but it didn't do him much good; at the last second, Cameron sensed the change and stepped quickly to alter his path to make sure he didn't miss Tom with the attack. Once the attack connected, Cameron discharged all of his available energy minus the required amount to keep himself alert and conscious and hoped that the energy he put into it would be enough to incapacitate Tom. For the moment, anyways, it did what it was supposed to; Tom was sent flying back into the stone wall of the battle pit the Guild had made with a loud _WHUMP!_ and slumped to the dirt, struggling to keep conscious. He wasn't knocked out, but, for the most part, he was out of the way.

Grovyle, however, was the real threat and, to deal with him, Cameron needed some backup. Taking on this rogue Pokemon with heavy battle experience verged on suicide, but David and Jordan had been sent away on recon towards Fogbound Lake per Cameron's orders a while ago and weren't expected to return anytime soon. Cameron had to think of a way out of this without getting himself killed... he had to protect himself.

'No...' he thought. 'Thinking defensively's not gonna get me far in this mismatch.'

He remembered that he had once been told that a good defense was a good offense. He had to change the rules - rewrite his strategy.

To do that, he would need to do something he hadn't attempted before...

Grovyle was expecting the young Pikachu to run so that he could use Pursuit to end the battle quickly, but the attack that happened next was something he was completely unprepared for. His opponent, Cameron, closed the distance between them using Quick Attack to get behind him, then put Grovyle in a submission hold.

As a Pikachu, Cameron's normally under average strength was acutally heightened, giving the young Pikachu just enough power to hold Grovyle in place, but not much; Grovyle knew that he could break free within a matter of seconds, and Cameron had already exhausted over 80% of his strength, which was made apparent by his struggle to keep Grovyle in the hold.

To make matters worse, Tom had managed to recover from the Chidori attack and was starting to get back up, looking completely enraged. He got behind Cameron and was about to use Close Combat...

But, before the attack could connect, Tom felt a blast of water hit him square in the head. It felt... solid. When the haze cleared from his eyes, he saw the silhouette of David standing above him before being knocked out cold by one solid punch from the Totodile.

Grovyle, now about ready to break free, was waiting for the moment when Cameron's strength would finally be exhausted and he could capture him with no further complications, when he felt a cold smack hit him square in the jaw. HE managed to make out the silhouette of a Piplup through the haze in his eyes that refused to clear, his right flipper completely covered in ice.

"David? Jordan? Thank God you guys got here, I was almost done for..." said Cameron to his team.

"Hey, we just can't leave our Team Leader hangin' now. Right, Jordan? asked David.

"Yeah! Noody's gonna hurt our friend unless they get through us!" exclaimed Jordan in confident defiance to Grovyle.

Cameron, who had exhausted all of his energy in the attempt to absorb some of Grovyle's strength to level the playing field, let go of his opponent. Grovyle, however, wasn't finished yet; all of Team Renegades saw afterwards was a blinding flash of light, followed by a _THUMP! _to Cameron's head, which resulted in clinging darkness...

Lyla, who had witnessed the entire scene from afar, spotted Grovyle out of the corner of her eye and had no choice but to give pursuit...

An hour later, back at Grovyle and Tom's campsite...

Cameron, finally finished recovering from his injuries, woke up to find Grovyle standing over him. Instantly, Cameron's inner rage surged forward and he rushed to attack his captor, but he realized that he was tied with rope the instant he tried to move. Unable to escape, Cameron grew even angrier.

"What do you want? Wasn't taking my friend and turning him into your mindless puppet enough for you? Now you're gonna go after me. You sick ****." seethed Cameron with rage.

"If you cooperate, I will do no harm. Resistance won't get you very far and you're not going anywhere unless I say, so you might as well-" started Grovyle.

"I'LL NEVER JOIN YOU! NEVER! YOUR PLAN'LL FALL SHORT, JUST WAIT! SOON AS I'M FREE, I'M GONNA MAKE YOU PAY!" yelled Cameron.

Suddenly, Grovyle struck Cameron in the face with a Leaf Blade, causing Cameron to roar in pain.

"Well, you're a stubborn one. It's gonna take a lot more than convincing to get you to help me, it would seem." said Grovyle.

"Shut up. Nothing you say will make me join you. I don't help criminals." hissed Cameron, still reeling from pain.

"Well, then... explain how you can help. What can YOU do to fix a problem you don't even know about?" asked Grovyle.

"Oh, I know the problem. Its ugly face is staring straight at me. Once I get outta this, your *** is grass, buddy." said Cameron.

"That's the thing. You're NEVER getting outta this unless you join us!" responded a familiar voice from behind.

Turning to his right, Cameron saw up-close the face of Grovyle's partner, the face of a battered, beaten and broken, but not defeated, Riolu. The Pokemon had a scar that extended across both eyes and exposed the fleshy skin that his fur used to hide. Cameron, however, knew that face immediately, plus the voice, of this specific Riolu.

It was none other than Tom, Cameron's ex-friend and ex-team member.

"Looks like nobody liked your face, either. Too bad, you actually looked better than when you came into this world before that." remarked Cameron.

"SHUT IT!" yelled Tom, slugging Cameron in the face.

After spitting a bit of blood, Cameron gave his response: "YOU shut it! You're the one who betrayed your REAL FRIENDS for this LUNATIC!"

Grovyle, who already didn't like Cameron's attitude, chose that particular moment to slug Cameron in the head, forcing Cameron to fight through pain to stay awake.

"I'll never let you two hurt my friends. NEVER. I'd rather die than see that happen." muttered Cameron through gritted teeth.

"What are you going on about? We're trying to save the world, and you won't even let me explain why I'm here." responded Grovyle, his calm nature comung back into play.

"NO! No... I won't listen! Nothing you can do will change my mind! NOTHING!" yelled Cameron with the last of his energy before grunting once and slipping into unconsciousness...

"Well, it seems that your friend is more stubborn than BOTH of us thought, Thomas." said Grovyle.

"Yeah, I don't know what that was all about. By the way, it's not Thomas, it's Thomasson. And don't EVER call me either one of those again." answered Tom, a little ticked.

"...noted. Sorry about that. Anyways, what are we going to do with him?" asked Grovyle.

"Well, he said he'd rather die than see us hurt his friends. So... I think I know of a way we can convince him..." Tom responded with an evil grin.

Lyla, who was in the immediate vicinity, silently gasped, then immediately fled back to camp to warn David and Jordan of the impending assault...

Well, that's Episode 18 for ya. Crazy Episode, I know, but I'm a crazy kind of guy, y'know? Anyways, I'm done with it, so, yeah.

Fridays are always good days for me, and yesterday was a really great day for me. I got my Dazzle DVD Recorder PLUS working, so I'm set for making YouTube videos! All I need is a capable Hard Drive... (If only I can get $80 soon...)

Anyways, look forward to Episodes 19 and 20 (hopefully) during the next few days! I'm stuck home from school due to reasons (that I won't divulge, so don't go prowlin around...), so i'll have some free time for my series and other stuff! (Yeh! Awesome.) So, with that, I'm done! Peace!


	19. Chapter 19: Water Under The Bridge Part3

**Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky: Team Renegades**

Episode 19: Water Under the Bridge Part 3

David and Jordan, who were back at the Guild's campsite, trying to help the wounded and with repairs, the 2 friends were taken aback by the sudden appearance of Lyla, who had run away quite some time before.

"LYLA!" exclaimed Jordan, happy to see that his teammate wasn't injured.

"JORDAN! Where's David? I've got bad news, and it's for both of you." said Lyla.

"Hey. You rang?" asked David, coming up from behind.

"Guys, it's not good. Tom and Grovyle have Cameron captured, and it looks like they wanna do something to him. What it is, I really don't know, but by the time I left, he was unconscious. We need to rescue him!" demanded Lyla.

David had a look of pure terror on his face once Lyla told her story, but Jordan looked ticked off. With a calm determination, Jordan said, "Then let's go make them pay."

Back at the campsite...

Tom and Grovyle had already finished packing all of their stuff, with Cameron already trussed up so that he couldn't move, still unconscious. Once the duo was sure that their tracks were relatively covered, they left, taking Cameron with them. By the time that the remaining members of Team Renegades had made it there, the other 3 had already started their advancement towards Fogbound Lake. Thanks to Lyla's advanced survival skills, however, Team Renegades managed to track them all the way to an oasis located close to Fogbound Lake.

However, when they caught up with them, Team Skull had already surrounded Grovyle, Tom and Cameron, but they had changed since the last time they were seen; Zubat had evolved into a Golbat and Koffing looked ready to evolve himself. Skuntank, other than a scar on his face, was the only one out of the bunch who didn't look different. Team Skull was just about to fight Tom and Grovyle, with Cameron hidden safely behind the rock. Lyla was the first to reach Cameron before anyone noticed Team Renegades' presence, but Jordan was the one to free Cameron by cutting the ropes. Once free, the 2 friends, exchanging angry glances, decided to secretly attack Team Skull from behind.

"Lyla, take the 2 miscreants there by surprise. We'll take care of Team Bonehead over there." said Cameron.

Lyla nodded, then took David and got into position.

Once Grovyle started to charge, a ball of electricity hit Crobat square in the back of the head. Grovyle risked taking a look back, only to have David punch him square in the jaw. He fought to regain his footing, only to have Lyla strike him in the head with Iron Tail, knocking the thief out.

However, during the chaos, Skuntank managed to grab Tom and knock him out by surprise by using Smog while Koffing took Golbat onto his back. Cameron, spotting this, attempted to give pursuit while he left Grovyle in the hands of his team.

Lyla, after knocking out Grovyle, said in a whisper so that only she could hear: _"I'm sorry... old friend."_

David went over to help Lyla put Grovyle somewhere safe once Lyla explained her story in more detail. Once the rogue Pokemon had been safely stored away, David and Lyla gave pursuit after Team Skull and the other half of Team Renegades...

Close to the entrance of Fogbound Lake, Team Skull, well aware of their pursuers, were still running when Skuntank ran headlong into a giant Groudon statue. However, when he recovered, he noticed that the statue was extremely realistic... a bit TOO realistic...

Suddenly, the statue started moving, which brought Skuntank to the horrible realization that it wasn't a statue! Groudon was there, in the flesh, and he didn't look too happy... and, only to confirm Skuntank's fears, Groudon attacked without warning. Barely able to dodge it, Skuntank wondered how to best attack this new enemy when, without warning, he was swept to the side by a massive blast to his left. The sudden explosion sent him headfirst into a wall where he suffered a concussion and slumped to the floor, unconscious...

With Skuntank now out of commission for the time being, Cameron and Jordan launched a double attack. While Cameron was enveloping himself in electricity, readying himself for a Volt Tackle, Jordan was just standing there, waiting. Once Cameron launched, Jordan spat out an Ice Beam when Cameron came close enough to Groudon straight at Cameron, turning his lightning blue. When Cameron's Icy Missile attack connected with Groudon, the legendary beast erupted into sand, leaving no trace of its existence a few seconds before...

"What the...?" said Jordan, befuddled by the phenomena.

"Well... that's certainly new. Maybe Groudon's just not as strong as we thought he was?" asked Cameron.

"Maybe..." was Jordan's response.

From where they came from, David and Lyla had caught up with Cameron and Jordan, marking the first time the entirety of Team Renegades, minus Tom, had been together since Cameron's kidnapping. There wasn't any time to celebrate, as David's expression made that certain.

"You OK there, David? Seems like you've got some bad news there." asked Cameron.

"Well, it's not bad news. But it ain't good news, either... and I think you deserve to know..." responded David before he started to tell everyone about Lyla's mysterious past...

However, a little ways behind Team Renegades, at the site Cameron's recovery...

Grovyle was starting to wake up, but when he managed to open his eyes, the sight he saw made him bolt upright and charge, but the object he saw knocked him back into the cave, making Grovyle see stars in his eyes, but he still had the energy to stay conscious. He almost wished that he didn't have that energy.

"You..." hissed Grovyle.

The figure that was looking back at him was something out of a nightmare. It was a Dusknoir, but its intentions were only known to Grovyle and his partner, whom Grovyle had thought he had long lost. The Dusknoir, however, knew who and where Grovyle's partner was and had backing in what he was about to say.

"So, you've truly come back, Grovyle... I assume your MASTER made the big desicion, no?" asked Dusknoir.

"ENOUGH! You KNOW that we're PARTNERS! And I WILL find her!" bellowed Grovyle.

"Hmm... interesting. I already KNOW where she is... or, rather, WHAT she is... heheheh..." chucked Dusknoir.

Grovyle, who was mad at that point, lost all of his anger after what Dusknoir said, his curiosity suddenly peaked. He immediately asked, "What!?"

"You fool. Think for a second. What happened while you were traveling back in time?" demanded Dusknoir.

"I remember... she protected me from some sort of shadow... after that, we got separated. I haven't seen her since..." whispered Grovyle, pain within his words. While he was recounting what had happened, a tear fell from his right eye.

"So... I'll make you a deal. I'll reunite you with your beloved... partner... if you stop trying to change history and go back to the future without a fight. Sounds good to you?" asked Dusknoir, whose better nature had apparently come forth.

Grovyle, who had thought over every detail and, should this backfire, had a backup plan formulated, shrugged and said, "I guess I don't really have much of a choice, do I? We'll do it your way, but nobody said I had to like it."

"Wouldn't dream of it. Cone on, let's go." responded Dusknoir, offering his hand to Grovyle, which was accepted, and hoisted the renegade Pokemon up.

Once on his feet, Grovyle led Dusknoir off in the direction towards Team Renegades, unaware of the pact between the two enemies...

Meanwhile, a ways ahead, back at the site of the Groudon fiasco...

Team Renegades, after making sure that Team Skull was tied up, woke up Tom with a good slap to the face. Cameron's old friend awoke with a start, pain radiating on the left side of his face so much, the skin underneath was showing, turning that part of Tom's face a bright pink.

"GYAAH! What was THAT for!?" demanded Tom, visibly mad.

"THAT was for stabbing me in the back, to which I ask this..." responded Cameron before grabbing Tom by the neck and yelling, "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!?"

"GET OFF!" screamed Tom, wriggling free of Cameron's grasp.

"Why did you quit on me!? What made you run? HUH!?" demanded Cameron.

"...you made me feel horrible." responded Tom, whose anger had been replaced by sudden embarassment.

"About what you did? You should've felt horrible about it in the first place! You nearly got yourself, David and Jordan KILLED! And for WHAT!? A stupid trinket that REALLY served us no particular importance in our mission! What were you thinking?" asked Cameron.

"I was thinking maybe I could make you happy!" answered Tom.

Cameron, who was taken a bit aback by what Tom had said, lost some of his rage, but not all of it as he asked, "What made you think that? You're a good friend of mine. All I want is for people around me to be happy. THAT'S what keeps me going. You didn't have to go and prove anything! Just so long as you're happy with yourself, I'll be happy to help you stay like that."

Tom looked up at Cameron and, after a slightly akward silence, finally asked, "Okay. I'm sorry, okay? Can you-"

"-forgive you? Yeah, if you're gonna go far enough to see what you did wrong, I can accept your apology. I just hope you accept mine for being so harsh..." responded Cameron, offering out his hand to Tom, his best friend.

Tom quickly accepted it, hoisted himself up and shook hands with Cameron. Once the two had finished, Cameron asked, "Still got plenty of room for an awesome Pokemon. Wanna come back, Tom?"

"Come on, Tom. Can't hurt, right?" asked Daivd.

"TOM!" cheered Jordan.

Lyla nodded and said nothing, but her smile said everything.

"Alright, I'll do it!" answered Tom, his head held high.

"Awesome. Welcome back to Team Renegades... old friend." said Cameron.

Alrighty, then! Episode 19's done! And, before anyone asks any questions, I decided to take down the Decadial Recap from the story and scrap the idea altogether. After what happened last time, I was NOT going through that again. Anyways, it's gone for good, no debate about it, so don't spam my inbox with pleas of me bringing it back. It's not gonna happen. Took me some time, and I'm a BIIT behind schedule, but I still managed to get this out there. Once this is posted, it should be around 1 AM when I go to bed where I live, so I missed my deadline by an hour. Oh, well, not gonna lose any sleep over it, eh? Still givin' you guys more stuff! Speaking of stuff, i've got a lot planned for this series! Oh, yes... a LOT. For now, though, just sticking to the game as much as possible, although I DIID put my own spin on it. Meh, can't get sued for being creative, right? No, I cannot.

Well, that's all for this Episode. Tune in next Episode when the title's NOT gonna be Water Under the Bridge! (Betcha got tired of reading THAT title, eh?) Before I go, though, I WILL admit I DIID use a lot of capital letters in the end (and possibly throughout) the entire Episode, so I hope that doesn't make you think too much... about... something. Wow, I have no idea where I was going with that... WHELP, guess it's time for me to hit the sack. BYE NOW! :D


	20. Chapter 20: The True Renegade

**Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky: Team Renegades**

Episode 20: The True Renegade

A little further ahead, the fog became too thick for the team to see properly. At first, Cameron thought to try using himself and Lyla as a portable light, but it just wasn't strong enough to cover an entire area. Jordan suggested adding some water, but Cameron immediately smacked him and said, "Jordan, that would only make the situation WORSE for us!"

Tom, however, said nothing as he thought about how to best desert the group and find a way back to Grovyle without being detected until it was too late. He only wanted to make peace with Cameron before he left the team for good.

Frustrated, Cameron and Lyla attempted to increase their voltage output and try to use their power as a light again. This time, they were able to see better, but it didn't last long; the fog started to lift only seconds after they had upped the power output, which got everyone confused, save for a very peeved Cameron.

"Well, THAT would've been helpful about 5 minutes ago..." growled Cameron, who, losing his anger, became just as confused as the rest of the team and voiced the most important question: "Question is, why now? What didn't we do to lift the fog?"

"Maybe you forgot the Drought Stone. That would've helped you guys!" said a voice from behind.

The entire team turned around to find Adam, along with the Guildmaster himself and Chatot, behind them. For everyone, it should've been a great reunion, but a sudden rush from Chatot towards Tom shocked everyone.

"YIPE!" exclaimed David.

"HUH!?" shrieked Lyla.

"OHCRAPBASKETS!" yelled Cameron and Jordan in unison.

"WHAT!?" bellowed Tom with the force to break mountains.

Chatot used Aerial Ace to knock Tom off of his feet. Tom wasn't expecting the attack, so he couldn't put up his defenses in time, which meant that, along with Chatot aiming for a critical spot, Tom took massive damage. As Chatot was about to come back and finish Tom off with a Brave Bird, Cameron regained his composure and rushed to Tom's defense by hitting Chatot with a Shock Bomb in his left wing, crippling his flight and cutting his Brave Bird attack short in midair.

Cameron, however, wasn't just going to let Chatot fall as he vaulted high in the air and caught Chatot mid-fall, then used his body as a sort of helicopter blade, spinning rapidly while discharging energy to slow the rapid descent. It worked, but when Cameron let Chatot go, he was heavily damaged himself along with a severe case of paralysis crippling him from the waist down, along with Cameron having used up all of his remaining energy to save both Pokemon. As Cameron lost consciousness, he saw a dark figure and a familiar green silhouette in the distance and pointed to it before passing out...

Lyla managed to figure out that Cameron was pointing behind the direction in which the Guildmaster's team had come from and turned just in time to see that Grovyle was just about to attack her with a Leaf Blade. She countered by dodging the attack, but she ended up in the path of Dusknoir, who hit her with a Shadow Punch, nearly knocking her out. Down, but not out, Lyla used some of her power that she had left to launch herself high in the air and come down straight on Dusknoir, hitting the ghastly Pokemon dead on with an Iron Tail and rendering Dusknoir unfit to fight.

With him out of the way, Lyla yelled, "JORDAN! COVER ME!"

"GOT IT!" yelled Jordan back, moving into position.

David was also in position, but for a different reason. He was in an ambush position and ready to strike. Tom, however, had seen David moving into position and was right behind him, waiting for the moment for David to ready himself to spring his trap. Just as soon as David noticed the faint breathing behind him and was going to turn around, Tom _THUMP_ed David on the head as hard as he could, knocking the Totodile out cold.

Cameron had regained consciousness, but the battle still raged on. He saw Lyla next to him, putting the energy she had into her fallen comrade. Still unable to fully get back into the fight, Cameron could only watch the battle going on around him; the Guildmaster had his hands full with Grovyle by himself, but Jordan was keeping guard in front of Cameron just in case.

As Cameron thought about his current condition, he felt ready enough to get back into the fight, but Grovyle and Tom both had other plans... plans that involved Cameron. Tom rushed at Jordan and knocked him out in one swift blow to the back of Jordan's head. Lyla, unexpecting Tom's sudden betrayal, watched as the Riolu took Cameron... again.

Trying to make sure that he wasn't going to be tortured again, Cameron stopped Tom dead in his tracks with a Thunder attack. While that recharged Cameron, Tom's body couldn't handle the extreme voltage, under which he passed out in a slump. Grovyle was still in play, however, and he somehow managed to render the Guildmaster unable to fight by trapping his foot in some vines.

Already outraged at Tom's second betrayal, the sight of the Guildmaster falling to Grovyle outraged Cameron to peaks of anger even he didn't think he had. With one swift move, Cameron charged a Chidori, rushed and hit Grovyle square in the chest, nearly splitting the Pokemon in 2. Thinking that the battle was over, Cameron allowed himself to relax for a second. It was a mistake as he felt a chill in the back of his skull knock him out...

Dusknoir, his head still in pain, had no choice. If the leader had been allowed to escape, he could've brought back the entire Guild, something Dusknoir couldn't stop by himself in his current condition and certainly not with hostages. He needed to move, and fast. Under one arm, Dusknoir had already secured Lyla and, feeling pretty smug about himself, added Cameron to take with him. Remembering that Grovyle and Tom were outlaws, along with the fact that he still had use for them, he took them as well, then disappeared through the shadows...

Later, in a cave somewhere...

Cameron was starting to finally regain consciousness after the battle. All he remembered after nearly caving in Grovyle's chest is an icy chill in the back of his head, where it still hurt. He blurrily saw a familiar silhouette in front of him, one he didn't need full clarity to see properly.

"...Tom?" asked Cameron.

"That's right, you idiot. What, you actually thought I was gonna go back to that s***hole you call home? Yeah, right." said Tom with a smug grin on his face.

"You... you f***ing a**hole. I actually thought that you and me could've-" started Cameron.

"Been FRIENDS? After what you did?" growled Tom in anger.

"YOU NEARLY KILLED DAVID AND JORDAN! I HAD THE RIGHT!" yelled Cameron in frustration.

"SO!? YOU DIDN'T NEED TO YELL AT ME! Ah, whatever, it doesn't even matter. Soon, me and Grovyle are gonna fix the world our way soon and there's nothing you'll be able to do to stop us. See this?" answered Tom, holding up a bag. Inside...

"THE TEMPORAL GEARS!? YOU F***ING SON OF A BI-" screamed Cameron before Tom _THUMP_ed him on the head and knocked him out before walking away...

Lyla, who had faked being unconscious, used that moment to use a knife she had in her Explorer Bag to break free of the ropes that tied her. It wasn't easy, but she managed to do it. Before making her escape, she freed Cameron and grabbed her before running for her life...

Back at the Guild's HQ at Fogbound Lake...

David had already regained consciousness and was tending to Jordan when Lyla came rushing in with a badly damaged Cameron on her back. Once in the infirmary tent, the members of the Guild that had opted to run the tent, Sunflora and Chimecho, immediately tended to the injured Pikachu, who, within his dreams, was already formulating a plot to get back at his once good friend-now turned enemy, Tom...

Well, 20 Episodes! I've done pretty good so far, right? If you think I've done good, why not give me some praise by leaving a nice review? If you wanna flame me for skipping parts or doing weird stuff, that's quite fine as well. Review what you want! Let your voice be heard!

Also, almost ready to make YouTube videos. I just need a little more time, guys... if you wanna subscribe now, though, you're more than welcome to! Look me up on YouTube (gonna be the same name as on here, XxRenegadeCiNosxX).

Thanks for giving me so much support, guys! I've had over 1,000 views since Episode 19, and I hope to give you guys a lot more to read, so stick around and enjoy the show!

CiNos out! BYE!


	21. Chapter 21: Destiny's Hand

Once again, it's time to get the annoying thing out of the way: Disclaimer.

_**I own NOTHING! **_

Pokemon is a game series created by, and copyrighted to, **Nintendo, GAME FREAK and Creatures Inc. **Also, Mystery Dungeon Gens 1 (Red and Blue Rescue Team) and 2 (Explorers of Time, Darkness and Sky) are made by **Chunsoft and owned primarily by Nintendo, Creatures Inc. **(not sure, someone correct me if i'm wrong) **and GAME FREAK.  
**

**Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky: Team Renegades**

Episode 21: The Hand of Destiny

Once Cameron had recovered, Adam recounted his adventure that led him to find the Drought Stone the Guild needed to lift the fog.

"After me and the Guildmaster found it in a cave in the Foggy Forest... I had some sort of feeling that it was important. I went back for it so that I could find out how it could help and once we got deeper into the fog, it started shaking in my bag. Once I took it out, it literally started sucking the fog into it. Pretty convenient, huh?" said Adam.

"Dude, you honestly could not have timed that better. Sad that Tom backstabbed the team again. Next time I see him..." was Cameron's response before attempting to pound his fists together and, failing to do that, finished with "Meh, you get the idea."

"Yup." was Adam's short response.

Cameron, now feeling fit to fight, exited the infirmary tent. Once he did, however, he called for an emergency Guild meeting in the Guildmaster's tent. Once everyone was acounted for, Cameron began.

"Alright. So, most of you are wondering why I've called you in here. Well, of course I'm gonna tell you. What, you think this is some sort of prank? ...heh, nah, I'm just kidding with that. But seriously, we've got a problem. Most of you know Tom, right? The Riolu that left the Guild?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good, so we're on the same page. Now, that thief, Grovyle. He's using Tom to further his plans that I've finally figured out: they're obviously stealing the Temporal Gears."

Everyone, save for Croagunk, the Guildmaster and Chatot, gasped at this news.

"If I may interject, recruit?" asked Chatot.

"But of course. Go ahead, man." responded Cameron.

After clearing his throat, Chatot started. "Now, as you know, this young Pikachu... who, oddly, goes by the name of Cameron... has shown exemplary skill and power with such a small physique. He has also shown a natural-born leader skill, something that is rare and, needless to say, important for responsibility. Which is why the Guildmaster and I have come to the conclusion that he and his team will be the only ones to explore inside Fogbound Lake."

The entire Guild said nothing, even as Team Renegades stepped forward when Chatot motioned for them.

"Chatot, my team is ready to go at a moment's notice. Before we leave, however, I'd like to ask if they could be given a chance to prepare themselves before we leave. Is that acceptable to you?" asked Cameron.

"Why, of course. You may do so, as well, seeing that, under the circumstances-" started Chatot.

"Chatot, I'm already prepared." interrupted Cameron.

"...oh. Well, then! You're quite capable of planning ahead, aren't you?" inquired Chatot.

"No, i've just gotten good at keeping up with your expectations." answered Cameron.

"...well... didn't know that I was so predictable... anyways, you're cleared for this mission, so come back safe!" replied Chatot.

"Alright, then. Thanks for the opporitunity." was Cameron's response before turning to his team and saying, "Team Renegades..."

In unison, Cameron, Jordan and David all yelled, "MOVE OUT!"

Lyla, however, didn't know, so she said nothing.

"...well, at least you know what we say now, Lyla. Don't worry, there'll be next time." whispered David to Lyla.

"Thanks." was her casual response.

Cameron watched his entire team leave, along with the rest of the Guild, save for the Guildmaster's team, which composed of himself, Chatot and Adam.

"Alright, now's the time to see if what I've got planned'll pay off... hope you're ready, Tom, cause you're not getting this Gear." muttered Cameron before walking out of the tent to regroup with his team...

Meanwhile, in Drought Cave, the home of the Drought Stone...

Tom and Grovyle had decided to set up shop in the cave and, with the help of Dusknoir, had managed to hide their base fairly well, considering that it was a large, open space.

"So, Grovyle... what's our next plan of action?" asked Tom.

"We need to steal the Temporal Gear located in Fogbound Lake. It won't be easy, but I think it can be done. I have to ask you, though... do you think giving your friend an insight into our plan was wise?" asked Grovyle.

After a full 3 seconds of thinking, Tom muttered, "...no..."

In a swift move, Grovyle backhanded Tom.

"HEY!" yelled Tom, visibly mad.

"Next time, you should think with the head on your shoulders, not the two between your legs. Why would you reveal our intentions to someone trying to stop us!?" demanded Grovyle.

After a moment of thinking, Tom yelled, "UHH! GROSS!"

"What? That's what you were using to think, and it's only going to make your friend even more determined to stop us." growled Grovyle.

Tom, thinking it over, said nothing after that.

"Hey, now. Don't be harsh on the kid, he's the only one here helping you without a specific purpose." said Dusknoir, coming up from behind.

"Ah, yes. Just one more gap in the giant floor I have to cross to complete my mission. Now... let's see here..." muttered Grovyle.

Unbeknownst to Dusknoir, Grovyle chose that particular moment to attack and incapacitate him with one swift Leaf Blade straight to the forehead, knocking him out before he even hit the floor.

"...nice job there, buddy!" said Tom, not the least bit suprised.

"You didn't do too bad yourself there, partner. Looks like we'll be able to get the last 2 Temporal Gears and set this right... hopefully, your friend will come through for us in time..." agreed Grovyle.

"Stop calling him that. As far as I'm concerned..." growled Tom before grabbing Grovyle by the neck, dragging him down to eye level, then growling, "...he's NOT... MY... FRIEND."

Back at the Guild's temporary HQ right outside of Fogbound Lake...

Team Renegades had already prepared themselves for the road ahead; David was running support, taking whatever he needed to be as helpful as possible; Jordan was running tactics, meaning it was his job to keep the team in line; Lyla was running medic, taking only healing supplies in her Bag for the entire team; Cameron was running scout, packing lightweight to keep as fast as possible.

"So, we've all got the plan down?" asked Cameron.

"Yeah." replied Jordan.

"Yup, got it." answered David.

"Of course." said Lyla.

"Oh, wait, Lyla. I almost forgot, this is for you." said Cameron, giving Lyla a purple bow.

Lyla, unexpecting the gift, blushed and muttered a "thank you..." back to Cameron.

"Well, you're welcome. I've forgotten to give you that and I decided it's time. Lyla, you're one of us now, and I know that, together, nothing will get in between our goals." said Cameron.

"Right." answered Lyla.

"Awesome, glad to see that you're on the same page. Team Renegades!" yelled Cameron.

"MOVE OUT!" was the entire team's answer.

Together, the 4 members of Team Renegades pushed forward into Fogbound Lake, their minds set on protecting the Temporal Gear... or was there something else...?

Alright! Episode 21 is done and finished! This was one heck of an Episode to write for me, but I've gotten it done for you guys! Getting started on Episode 22 right now for ya!

Also, good news! My status as a YouTuber is about to become a Commentator! Hoping to have a video out by the end of next week! Check me out on YouTube! (Search for XxRenegadeCiNosxX, then click on the channel that says Giratina ATTACK!) Why not go ahead and subscribe while you're at it? It'd be great to have a nice following starting out! (You don't have to, but it'd only take a minute at most and I'd really appreciate it :D)

So, with that, Episode 22 coming out soon! Keep an eye out for that! CiNos is OUT! YEH!


	22. Chapter 22: Stealing from a Thief

**Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky: Team Renegades**

Episode 22: Stealing From a Thief

Back at Drought Cave...

Dusknoir had finally regained consciousness after being attacked by Grovyle. This sudden backstab angered the ghastly agent. He growled in rage, then started to scream, "YOU NO GOOD SONS OF BI-" before being stopped midsyllable by the sight of a glow in the back.

Upon investigation, Adam attacked the agent of darkness and sent him faltering backwards. Realizing that Dusknoir wasn't his enemy, Adam immediately went to apologize, but Dusknoir wasn't having any of it. Using Ominous Wind, Adam was blown clean out of the cave and back into the Forest.

Once he was sure that Adam had been removed from the cave, Dusknoir opened up a portal to a darkness-filled dimension (or so it would seem) and yelled for his subordinates, a squad of 6 elitely trained Sableye who rushed forward and bowed in front of their master.

"Master Dusknoir, Alpha here. My squad awaits your command." said the leader.

Adam, however, had found a handhold and had managed to avoid being blown away. He quickly recovered and managed to stay close to the cave, grabbing onto a tree. Being more cautious, once he touched the ground, he had to lower the flames on his back. He didn't want to get caught again, but he also wanted to avoid killing himself; his life was, like a Charmander's, linked to the flames he shot out of himself. If the flames died, so did he.

After giving the squad of Sableye a good deal of gruff, Dusknoir ordered them to follow...

"What? That can't be good... I gotta warn Cameron and the others!" hissed Adam, who ran off ahead to try and warn his friends...

Up further ahead, close to the Guild's Temporary HQ...

Grovyle and Tom were well on their way to catching up with their two hostages, Cameron and Lyla. However, Grovyle still had a mission to complete, but he also needed to find his partner. That female Pikachu reminded him of his partner, Lyla, but he just dismissed their encounter as some sort of weird coincidence. Being too nice, however, he gave the Pikachu what she wanted; a sense of hope in whoever she was searching for.

'...maybe...' thought Grovyle as he gave it a bit more thought, then dispersed the idea. The mere thought of his human partner turning into a Pokemon was completely absurd. It was impossible... or at least that's what Grovyle thought.

"Grovyle!" yelled Tom.

"Huh?" responded Grovyle, half of his mind still thinking about his partner. In him considering everything, Grovyle had completely stopped running and just stood there, still.

"You stopped. What's up?" asked Tom.

"...Tom, may I ask you something?" said Grovyle.

"Sure." responded Tom.

"You wouldn't happen to know anyone by the name of Lyla, would you?" asked Grovyle.

It was a name Tom knew all too well. He hated Lyla because he thought that Lyla had taken his best friend when he saw her for the first time. In his mind, he saw having Lyla on the brink of death, her blood on his hands.

Upon hearing the name, Tom immediately and, quite rudely, responded with a sound, "NO."

"...**** shame... oh, well. Sorry for wasting our time. We need to hurry. I doubt that Dusknoir will stay quiet for long..." responded Grovyle, who broke into a sprint afterwards.

Tom followed with a slight loss in step. He didn't want Lyla taking Grovyle away from him, so he needed to deal with her, and soon...

Further, inside Fogbound Lake...

Upon initial inspection, there seemed to be no other way up besides climbing the water. Cameron, however, had another way.

"Jordan?" asled Cameron.

Within seconds, the entire flow of water slowed down as Jordan cooled the water by touching it.

"Nice job. David?" asked Cameron again.

"Hey, you got it." responded David as he created a huge air bubble within the chilly water. He then promptly said, "All aboard!"

"Good job, you two. Lyla, take my hand." ordered Cameron.

"Uhh..." responded a blushing Lyla, unsure of what to do.

"Oh, come on. I'm gonna use our combined power to lift us up. Also... yes, I am getting a bit of a funny feeling out of this, so don't worry. You're not the only one." said Cameron.

"Alright. Nobody said I had to like it." argued Lyla.

"Well, you blushed when I asked you. I can see it because the red circles on your face became larger for a second there." answered Cameron.

Lyla, still under some protest, grabbed Cameron's hand as the enitre team entered the bubble. Once all of them were in, Cameron began to charge energy, lifting the bubble upwards by forcing the water to part around an electric field he had created using his energy and Lyla's.

When they reached the top. Cameron jolted the bubble forward, moving them towards the giant cavern that now faced them. Once they reached the shore safely, David destroyed their ride, making sure nobody could drag it back down and use it to follow the team.

However, what lied ahead was their first test in a long line of trials they would have to face in their efforts to save the world. They just didn't know it yet...

Back at the Guild's HQ...

Croagunk had been assigned guard duty. He was wondering why someone more fitting for the position wasn't assigned for it, but he knew better than to question the Guildmaster. Still, it was boring. So boring, in fact, that he decided to test the Guild. He yelled "SOMETHING'S COMING!" every hour on the hour just to make them mad. At first, the Guild didn't know what was going on, but they soon learned of Croagunk's little ploy. He had just said it only a minute ago, but there was something coming, and it was all too familiar of a sighting...

"ROGUES! HEADING FOR THE BASE!" announced Croagunk.

The Guildmaster himself was already there, telling Croagunk, "Let them pass."

"What?" asked Croagunk.

"They're not after us. We know who they're after..." said the Guildmaster matter-of-factly.

Grovyle eyed the Guildmaster and Croagunk as he and Tom ran through the Guild's HQ. Once they had made it through, he looked forward, never checking back behind him.

The Guildmaster eyed the 2 outlaws and wondered why they were running, then thought about the Cyndaquil he had just sent out. As if on cue with what he was thinking, Adam showed up with the Sableye squad in tow and all living h*** broke loose. It got so bad, the Guildmaster himself charged into battle...

Back inside Fogbound Lake...

Team Renegades had already made it inside to find the lake itself. Tons of Volbeat and Illumise were dancing around the lake, which, in the middle, lied a Temporal Gear. The only one not staring at their beautiful surroundings was Cameron. His eyes were deadlocked onto the Temporal Gear in the middle.

"Now, how to deal with its Guardian..." whispered Cameron.

Jordan had noticed Cameron wasn't right ever since he had been captured by Grovyle. The thought of being powerless must've shooken him rang too many bells inside Jordan's head. Calmly, Jordan walked over to Cameron and put his flipper on Cameron's shoulder.

"Hey, what's up?" asked Jordan.

"...I know their plan. They're gonna try to take the Temporal Gears and stop time. That's not right. They belong in their locations. Something about them being scattered all over the land, though, strikes me as odd... out of place, really. There has to be somewhere..." answered Cameron, drifting off into a thought.

"Wait, you're not thinking..." wondered David.

"...there has to be. I'm sure of it. Some sort of main connector tower that controls the flow of time in this world. Something to that effect, anyways." said Cameron, snapping out of his thought.

"I think I know what you're thinking, Cameron." said Lyla.

"Alright, shoot. What do I have on my mind?" asked Cameron.

"You're thinking of taking the Temporal Gears and finding this central location that controls the flow of time, aren't you..." demanded Lyla, her tone firm at first, but softening as she lost her momentum.

"...well, you're sharp, aren't you? That's exactly what I was thinking. I bet that if we find this central hub and put the Temporal Gears in it, time will continue to flow correctly. Maybe that's what Grovyle and Tom are up to in the first place; stealing without a purpose just isn't in Tom's character, and he's not like me. He won't mimic other people's actions like I will." answered Cameron.

"WHAT!?" exclaimed Jordan and David in unison.

"So... what now?" asked Lyla.

"Well... that's the thing, isn't it? What now? My answer would be to help Grovyle and Tom, but I don't think the Guild would appreciate our desicion. They'd immediately label us as outlaws... looks like that's the only way outta all of this, though, so that's what's gonna happen, I guess." responded Cameron.

"A sound plan, young ones. Just one problem..." called a voice from out of thin air.

"Huh?" wondered David.

"YIP!" exclaimed Jordan.

"Alright, Guardian. You've been stalking us for quite long enough." said Cameron.

"SHOW YOUR FACE, SPIRIT! I KNOW YOU'RE THERE!" yelled Lyla.

Just then, a small creature slowly faded into view. It was a small, fairy-like creature with mainly gray skin. Its 2 tails had gems encrusted into the middle of its jagged tips. Its head, which reminded Cameron and his team of a human brain, was yellow like part of the creature's face. Its eyes, however, were closed.

Cameron and Lyla, however, already knew this Pokemon quite well. Before coming to Fogbound Lake, Cameron asked around Treasure Town on his own if there was anything he should watch out for. Everyone told him of a legend of whoever came into this part of Fogbound Lake would have a case of losing their memory, which Cameron knew as amnesia. Lyla's reason for knowing this Pokemon was unknown, but it was clear that the reason she knew him wasn't a pleasant memory for her to remember.

"Hello, Uxie." said Cameron and growled Lyla in unison.

"I won't allow anyone to disrupt the resting place of this Temporal Gear! If you think you can just waltz in here and snatch it..." started Uxie, who immediately became cloaked in a red aura and bellowed, "YOU'RE DEAD WRONG!"

Everyone just stayed still, not knowing what to do.

But it was David who made the first move, using his ability as a Water-Type Pokemon to somehow walk on the water as if he was just thin air. Then, he also somehow used the water as solid ground to propel himself at Uxie, preparing some sort of attack that looked familiar to Cameron...

"No, that FOOL! Don't tell me he's trying to use Chidori, he could kill himself using that!" exclaimed Cameron, a confusing state of panic and anger simultaneously washing over all of his emotions.

"He's been training to impress you with it." said Jordan.

"...why would he feel the need to impress me? He's strong enough." asked Cameron.

"Doesn't really feel that way. That's what he told me. He said he had something special to add to it, but I've got no idea what that could be... he wouldn't say." responded Jordan.

"Something special, huh..." whispered Lyla.

Right before David was about to connect his attack on a startled Uxie, the electricity built in his arm turned into a yellowy liquid (NOT that type of yellow liquid, by the way. Freaks...).

"LIGHTNING WATER JAB!" exclaimed David as the move connected with Uxie.

Immediately after the attack connected, the water surrounding the lake was cut into a shallow pool as it surrounded Uxie and rendered the Guardian useless.

"CAMERON! NOW!" yelled David.

"Right! Time to move!" answered Cameron, rushing towards the Temporal Gear. He moved so fast that the water served to increase his speed somehow as he dashed over it.

As soon as Cameron grabbed the Temporal Gear, Jordan bellowed a battle cry. It only took Cameron seconds to realize what was going on: Grovyle and Tom had caught up with them, their mission clear to everyone.

Both Cameron and David turned around to attack their new assailants, but Dusknoir was right behind them, his Sableye squad in tow. As soon as David and Cameron regrouped with Lyla and Jordan, all h*** broke loose. Dusknoir's minions immediately went after anything that wasn't Dusknoir whie David and Jordan kept Tom away from Cameron, Lyla and Grovyle.

"Lyla, you got Uxie?" asked Cameron.

"Heh. NO PROBLEM." hissed Lyla, her voice full of an edgy spite, charging towards a now freed Uxie.

Grovyle and Cameron just sat in the middle of the raging firestorm, staring eachother down. They were each waiting for their opponent to make the first move.

Deciding on where to strike, Grovyle used his superior agility to attempt to strike first. Cameron, however, used his natural speed to get behind Grovyle, where he carried all of his items in a backpack-style sack. Quickly thinking on his feet, Cameron used a Thunderbolt on Grovyle to knock him off of HIS feet and possibly paralyze himself in an attempt to search the sack. Grovyle, however, anticipated this move and spun around, striking Cameron with a Leaf Blade in the process. Even with the fact that it wasn't very effective, Cameron took some serious damage.

"Ugh. So that's how we're gonna tango, huh?" asked Cameron.

"It would appear so." repsonded Grovyle, putting up his arm to signal another Leaf Blade.

"...fine. You want this Temporal Gear so badly?" asked Cameron again, holding up the Temporal Gear from the lake.

"WHAT!?" exclaimed a shocked Grovyle, looking behind, then finishing it with, "Oh, NO! The Temporal Gear was removed incorrectly..."

"Well, I don't know how to remove a Temporal Gear incorrectly since all I did was grab it and run." remarked Cameron.

"YOU FOOL!" yelled Tom and bellowed Grovyle in unison as Tom broke through David and Jordan's blockade to attack Cameron along with Grovyle simultaneously.

"No. YOU TWO ARE THE F***ING FOOLS!" yelled Cameron, backing into Tom with a Rasengan in his hands.

Just as soon as Cameron got close to Tom with it, he slammed the Rasengan into the ground, setting it off. The impact sent Tom and Grovyle flying and everyone else was caught in a major gust. They all had to find handholds while Grovyle rebounded off of the cavern's ceiling into the water and Tom slammed into the top part of the wall, right above the exit. Cameron, who was at the epicenter of the entire blast, used it to vault high in the air.

Before anyone could react, Cameron was inside some sort of dark prison. Dusknoir had used his shadowy powers to trap the young Pikachu before part 2 of his escape plan could be enacted.

"You're not going anywhere. My master wants to have a word with you..." hissed Dusknoir.

Just then, the shadowy Pokemon was frozen solid on the spot, releasing Cameron from his shadowy tomb. The Pikachu spun to the ground in an attempt to create enough energy to prevent himself from dying upon impact. At the last second, Cameron used all of the energy he had built up to launch himself towards Grovyle, who was just crawling out of the massive half-crater made by David, ready to strike.

Before Cameron could reach him, however, Grovyle was also frozen on the spot, and it was no suprise HOW he was frozen, but the suprise instead came from WHO froze him; Jordan had the cold look of an assassin on his face, his features set with determination.

"Take the Gears and go. I'm right behind you." said Jordan, making sure to leave Grovyle's back completely unfrozen so he could rip the sack off, which he did. Once the sack was off, Jordan tossed it to Cameron.

In response, Cameron could only nod at his friend and yell, "DAVID! LYLA! We're outta here!". Both of them looked at eachother and nodded, following Cameron out.

It didn't take Tom long, however, to give pursuit, leaving Dusknoir and his Sableye, Grovyle and Jordan. He suprisingly caught up with them in seconds, barring their path with a huge aura barrier.

"OH, NO YOU DON'T!" screamed Tom.

Cameron, who was quite done with suprises for one day, turned around and put Lyla and David in their own protective barrier made of energy. Neither of them dared to break it. Before that happened, however, Cameron gave Lyla his Explorer Bag and Grovyle's Sack.

"Well, Tom... I can't say I was prepared for this. H***, I can't even say I was expecting this." responded Cameron.

"WELL, BELIEVE IT! I'M THROUGH WITH YOU AND YOUR ORDERS! NOBODY BOSSES ME AROUND!" yelled Tom, his face full of hate.

"Tom, do you wanna know what I think about horrible people?" asked Cameron.

"WHAT?" responded Tom.

"I think that abusers will never see their light of day because they get what's coming to them. I think that harmers will be lonely and die as nothing, as they thought of people. There's a special place in h*** for b******s. But BETRAYAL?" said Cameron.

"What about it?" asked Tom.

Cameron's response was to immediately charge up a Chidori, barking a challenge: "BETRAYERS HAVE NO PLACE IN MY HEART! PREPARE YOURSELF FOR MY WRATHFUL DESTRUCTION!"

Tom was completely taken aback by this sudden change in attitude. He had seen Cameron like this only once before and that wasn't pretty. Seeing him like this again brought too much shock as Cameron closed in with his attack...

Hey, guys! CiNos here. Sorry about the heavy delay in my series, I've been enjoying my summer a little, so excuse me for taking a break. I'm back and ready to make some more Episodes of the series! (Seriously, apologies for the 2-3 week delay, I really lost track of time...) Anyways, expect Episode 23 soon!

Also, still setting up for YouTube videos. Gonna be a while before I get anything out, but i'll try my hardest!

It's been really great writing this series, I've really come to be proud of the effort I put into it! I'm gonna keep this going for qutie some time, believe me!

CiNos OUT! Until next time!


	23. Chapter 23: A Heavy Burden

**Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky: Team Renegades**

Episode 23: A Heavy Burden

Tom barely had any room to maneuver out of the way, but he managed to dodge the Chidori attack from Cameron. It didn't take long, however, for the determined ball of energy to stop, re-aim and try again. This time, the attack hit dead on, but Tom took the attack as if it was nothing.

Once the 2 rivals had put some distance between eachother, the battle came to a standstill, with both combatants panting heavily. Tom wasn't feeling too well; he could tell something was wrong on the inside. Cameron was feeling the pain as well, but his pain came completely from external injuries and fatigue. Seeing Tom's worried face put an extra spring in his step as he prepared himself for Tom to make a move.

Cameron stood at attention, completely silent, waiting. His patience paid off as Tom charged, Aura Sphere in hand and just in time; Cameron's 6'th sense warned him of someone behind him. Taking a wild chance, Cameron dodge-rolled to the left, hoping it was anyone but Jordan. His luck held, but not in the way he expected; Jordan had brought Grovyle in tow, but Jordan was out in front. Jordan anticipated Cameron's evasive maneuver, spun around on a dime to face Grovyle, held right up until it was too late to dodge and somehow managed to avoid the attack by sidestepping out of the way. Tom couldn't stop in time and Grovyle got too close to Jordan before he sidestepped, meaning Tom's attack had only one person left to hit.

As the Aura Sphere impacted on Grovyle, Tom felt a radiating pain shoot up his spine. He went down hard once the attack connected, but Grovyle howled with pain all throughout the attack. Once the Aura Sphere collapsed, Grovyle immediately lost consciousness and fell right next to Tom.

Jordan and Cameron, however, were still conscious and, as they stood, they high-5'd eachother and laughed off their close call. Just as they were about to grab David and Lyla and get out of there, Uxie appeared right in front of them.

"Where do you think YOU'RE going?" demanded the small Pokemon.

"Crap, this isn't good. Jordan?" asked Cameron.

"No worries, we can do it." responded Jordan.

With a sigh, Cameron said, "Good, I was starting to think that we'd have to run. Thanks for having my back, bro."

"Not a problem!" said David, coming up behind Uxie.

Cameron realized that the barrier he had placed to protect David and Lyla had dissipated, with Lyla nowhere to be found. He silently prayed for her safety, then rushed with Jordan as David came up from behind. The 3 friends put Uxie in a deadlock as the battle started...

Up back towards the Guild's HQ in Fogbound Lake...

Lyla had made it back to the Guild and was just about to report in when she got trapped by some shadows. The Sableye had completely bypassed Cameron and the others and had went straight for her, knowing that Cameron would've taken the gamble to send her alone.

"So, you knew all along. Why didn't you just finsh them off and then come? You wouldn't have anyone to deal with." hissed Lyla.

Dusknoir appeared in front of her and said, "Where would the fun be in that, my dear Lyla? My master wouldn't allow for it, as much as I wanted to."

"You're just a puppet." growled Lyla.

"HA! If I'm just a puppet, you might as well be a spare piece of stirng. You're no better than me, little girl." was Dusknoir's rebuttal.

"You've got no idea what's coming. My friends have my back, you overgrown shadow." hissed Lyla.

"HA! That ragtag bunch of idiots? They've got no idea that I hold the cards. Right now, I'm in control." announced Dusknoir with a smirk on his face.

"But who TRULY controls?" asked Grovyle, coming out of his hiding spot.

"...so, you tricked them. Impressive." whispered Dusknoir.

"Not entirely. I let them know it was a fake. They should be on their way right now. Once they get here, a common enemy will be revealed, alliances will be formed and your master will have already lost." stated Grovyle.

"An alliance with you, huh? After what Lyla here told me, I was honestly waiting for you to come to me." stated Cameron.

"Wait... it's just you?" asked Grovyle.

"HA! Ragtag bunch of idiots, right?" demanded Cameron.

"Please. You're not even in the same leauge as me, little boy." remarked Dusknoir.

"Little... boy. Well, then. I can see you're completely disrespectful. How about this..." was Cameron's response before disappearing in a bright yellow flash.

"What?" gasped Dusknoir, taken aback by Cameron's sudden disappearance.

Suddenly, Dusknoir felt some pressure on his head. Looking up, he saw Cameron standing on top of him.

"Suprised? Good. You should be." growled Cameron.

In one swift move, Cameron frontflipped off of Dusknoir's head, landed, spun around with a Rasengan in hand and unleashed the attack on the unsuspecting villian. The bright blue orb consumed Dusknoir at a slower pace than Cameron had hoped for, but it was doing much more damage than he had anticipated as Dusknoir couldn't retaliate at all; the orb's power had completely immobilized both combatants, however. For Cameron to use this attack at full effect, it required a constant supply of his energy, meaning he couldn't detatch from the Rasengan without either a serious implosion or an immediate collapse.

As Dusknoir fainted, however, Cameron ran out of excess energy to power the Rasengan. Removing himself as the power supply for the Rasengan, Cameron's attack completely collapsed into a massive explosion that sent everyone in the vicinity flying backwards. Even Uxie was pushed back majorly once the attack imploded; the force of the attack was too much for him to withstand.

Once the smoke cleared, only Cameron was in the middle of it all, panting heavily. The attack had nearly killed him to use it after all the attacks he had used before it. The fact that he was still conscious, let alone alive, was tantamount to legends.

"No... respect for your... opponent, huh... I see your game... crap. This isn't good..." said Cameron through exhaustive pants and deep inhales.

Dusknoir, however, was completely unconscious; the attack had knocked him out at the last second before Cameron backed out of it and the implosion damaged him internally by a small amount, but the shadows of the planet had already healed that. Their power, however, couldn't wake him, which meant Team Renegades had some time to escape.

There was one more obstacle, though, that stood in their way; Uxie had already recovered from the shockwave from Cameron's Rasengan and the jewel on his head was glowing.

"You dare to disturb the natural balance? WHY?" demanded Uxie.

"Uxie, you do not know me now, that much is certain. But you must believe me when I say that -" Grovyle started.

"A time traveler from the future that plans to return the Temporal Gears to a location that does not exist. I've had many Pokemon tracking you as soon as you entered here from the Dimensional Rift. I'm the Being of Knowledge and, having the knowledge of friendship being a storng bond, I have Seekers of Knowledge who, for some few cases, serve as my Agents of Intelligence. Team Renegades here already knows of one." was Uxie's response.

"Wait. CHATOT WORKS for you!?" exclaimed David and Jordan in unison.

"No, he does not work for me. His official job entitlement is with Wigglytuff's Guiild. He simply serves as my eyes and ears for me as a watchful eye over the Guild. Often, he will report his days at the Guild whenever he goes on a long journey for the Guildmaster, Wigglytuff. In exchange, I give him small pieces of information on the world. He's one of my more curious Agents." answered Uxie.

"I can't really see that as a betrayal. He was always too busy with tasks for the Guildmaster..." said Tom.

"...it makes sense now. Chatot was always smarter than anyone, but he hadn't looked old. I assumed two things: either he was naturally intelligent or he got it from somewhere. At least now we know the truth..." piped in David.

"Ghuh... he was just looking for a way to cover one of his fatal flaws. Chatot's not strong... in fact, he's more fragile than I thought. He's extremely smart, but his combat skills aren't the best." chimed in Cameron, who had somehow managed to recover from exhaustion.

"...so, you don't think I'm strong. If I had a dime for every time I heard that, my life would be different. Tell ya what. You leave now and stop this nonsense and I'll spare your dignity by not beating you horrendously. Sound fair?" asked Chatot, who had suddenly appeared behind Uxie.

"Ah, yes. Chatot, right on schedule, as alwawys. You really need to learn when to hold your tounge, little boy." remarked Uxie.

"...anyone know how to dance? 'cause it's time to TANGO! You, sir, picked the wrong Team to mess with." exclaimed Cameron, pointing straight at Uxie with a fierce look in his eyes.

However, Chatot had different plans as an immediate shriek from him stunned everyone except him and Uxie, giving Chatot enough time to summon up his courage and attack Cameron in an attempt to take the Temporal Gears.

The stun only lasted a second, though, before Cameron had come to his senses and was ready to counter Chatot's rush with a simple Tail Smack. Everyone else scattered, each on their own different path; Grovyle, along with Lyla and Tom, went after Uxie with Grovyle charging straight and Lyla and Tom flanking left and right, while David and Jordan rushed to block Chatot from using his flight abilities by putting up a Water Barrier that would soak Chatot should he try to fly too high or escape, giving Cameron a distinct advantage 2 ways; the Water Barrier, at the cost of damaging David and Jordan, could be used as an amplifier for his already powerful electric powers, which could waste Chatot in one shot at this point, and also kept Chatot well within the range of Cameron's aerial and ground-based attacks, meaning Cameron could use any technique to take down Chatot.

It all depended on Chatot's reactions to each move and what he would do to counter Cameron.

In an attempt to counter, Chatot used Gust to try to break the Water Barrier, but David and Jordan proved to be powerful enough to ensure the Barrier remained standing as Chatot's attack had no effect on destroying it.

With Chatot momentarily distracted, Cameron seized the opporitunity to attack Chatot with a simple Iron Tail. Chatot never even saw it coming until it was too late and Cameron's attack struck dead on Chatot's skull, causing massive damage and giving the poor bird a concussion, to which he lost consciousness.

Once Chatot was downed, Jordan and David let the Water Barrier collapse, soaking both the unconscious attendant to the Guildmaster and their heavily damaged leader, ensuring that Chatot couldn't get up and attack them should he be faking the injury and giving Cameron a quick blast of energy through the chilling waters.

However, that jolt of energy was devoted to charging up one last Chidori, to which he steadied his aim to make sure it hit Uxie, who was in the middle of dealing with only Grovyle; Cameron, however, spotted Lyla on the ground, getting back to her feet after sustaining a heavy blow to the gut. She saw what Cameron was doing and prepared her OWN Chidori to add to the attack.

Grovyle spotted Lyla just in time as he moved to strike with his Leaf Blade in quick, rapid slashes that left Uxie's mental and physical strength drained as he struggled to block each slash. Finally, when Uxie's guard dropped, Grovyle came in with a strong Leaf Blade to ensure that he would be damaged enough to where one Chidori would put him out of commission so they could escape safely.

Satisfied that he did enough damage, Grovyle moved out of harm's way and yelled, "LYLA! NOW!"

In unison, both Pikachus charged at Uxie. Grovyle, not noticing Cameron at first and realizing what harm his attacks could really do, quickly rolled out of harm's way.

Once he was out of range of the blast, the twin Chidoris connected on Uxie, inflicting colossal damage and knocking him out cold. The recoil, however, sent Cameron into a state of shock that registered him unconscious and weakened his pulse almost immediately. Lyla, however, was still very much conscious, as she managed to move to catch Cameron and land salefly with the damaged Pikachu in her arms.

Everyone immediately came to Cameron's aid, including Tom and Grovyle. In fact, Tom was the first one to arrive by Cameron's side, even though he was going through massive pain. David, Jordan and Grovyle all arrived at the same time, kneeling to examine their fallen comrade.

"It's hypovolemic shock brought on by his cuts and bruises. He's lost too much blood, we've got to patch him up and get him out of here." said Grovyle.

"Right. Jordan? David?" Lyla asked, looking at the 2.

"Wait, what are we supposed to do?" questioned Jordan.

"Hey, if we can control Water, how far is it a stretch to control blood? Maybe we can keep the blood flowing inside while his wounds heal." answered David.

"It's all we've got. If it doesn't work, he's not gonna make it. Do it now, you two." demanded Grovyle.

In unison, David and Jordan used their powers to block Cameron's cuts and bruises and kept his body from losing any more blood while also closing up the wounds. In seconds, Cameron started to open his eyes and regain his consciousness.

"...hey, thanks, guys. I... I don't know what I would've done without all of you." whispered Cameron, still fighting exhuastion.

Cameron attempted to get up, but Tom's hand immediately forced him down gently.

"No, you can't risk walking, it's too dangerous. Let someone carry you, man." said Tom in a calming voice.

"Heh. Spreak for yourself, dude. I can feel your aura disruption, your entire nervous system looks as if it's ready to kill you. How you're conscious right now surprises me." whispered Cameron.

"Yeah, you would think about others, even when your own safety's in danger." remarked Tom.

"I'm sure Grovyle and Lyla noticed. Grovyle's a master of the tricks and trades and Lyla's a Pikachu as well. I know at least one of them figured it out." said Cameron with a little more backing to his voice, his strength finally returning.

"Wait... LYLA!?" exclaimed Grovyle with a face of shock.

"...you were always slow to figure it out. Yeah, Grovyle, it's me." responded Lyla.

With a face of absolute horror, Grovyle looked at his once human partner with absolute terror.

"But... HOW!?" exclaimed Grovyle again, his face the same.

"Maybe I can explain..." piped in Uxie.

Everyone got ready for a fight. Even Cameron popped back up and looked ready to tussle, but Uxie raised his hand.

"Hold it. I'm not going to attack you guys. I only want an explanation. Give me a good enough one and I'll only wipe your memories." explained Uxie, his eyelids twitching in anticipation.

"Fine. If you must be so demanding as to why we're stealing the Temporal Gears, we might as well explain ourselves if you're going to try and be courteous about it." said Grovyle.

"Actually... I've got a pretty good idea of why you've gone out of your way to steal the Temporal Gears." hissed Dusknoir from behind Cameron.

"SHUT YOUR ****ING-" started Cameron before being frozen solid by an Ice Punch from Dusknoir, rendering him unable to move.

"NO! CAMERON!" yelled David and Tom in unison.

Suddenly, Dusknoir, too, was frozen solid. Unlike Cameron, however, Dusknoir was split into 2 halves, his upper and lower torsos. When his solid, frozen body hit the ground, Jordan appeared from behind and broke the upper torso into shards and obliterated the lower torso with a blast of energy.

"That'll teach you to sneak up on us. Let's go before anything else happens. Lucky I managed to spot him before he did any damage, huh?" remarked Jordan.

"Amazing." was all Lyla said.

"Even I didn't see him coming... that's incredible." said Grovyle.

"...how did you- I... h...how!?" stuttered Tom in absolute shock.

"Truly incredible!" exclaimed David.

"Alright, enough with the praise. We need to move. NOW." demanded Jordan.

Grovyle hoisted Cameron up on his back and hauled his frozen body as Team Renegades, along with Grovyle and Tom, escaped Fogbound Lake before anything else could attack them. As a group, they all ran for their lives, each keeping an eye out for eachother, hoping for a stroke of luck...

Okay, so I'm a slow writer. Just be glad I can keep up with writing stories for you guys, alright? Anyways, minimum Episode goal of 25, hopeful goal of Episode 30. Any support you guys have would be greatly appreciated! (I'll even accept any criticism you might have, it'll help me make the series better!)

For Episode 23, I've finally managed to get around to writing it for you guys! Enjoy this Episode and stay tuned for the next one! (I'll try to get it out within the week along with Episode 25 to make up my laziness to you guys. I seriously apologize, but I've had trouble keeping focused on things like this. I really enjoy writing something people wanna read, so please share anything you might have with me! PMs or Reviews are the best way to reach me, so leave a little something!)

Thanks for sticking with my series, and I hope you come back soon for more! CiNos out!

(Episode 24 will be out soon, I promise! :D)


	24. Chapter 24: No Turning Back Now

**Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky: Team Renegades**

Episode 24: No Turning Back Now

As fate would have it, Team Renegades, along with Tom and Grovyle, made it back to Treasure Town without further incident. It seemed as Dusknoir's relentless pursuit had finally lost its steam as the group of 6 came close to reaching the town.

Grovyle, however, was still a wanted criminal for stealing the Temporal Gears and Chatot couldn't be trusted to keep his mouth shut, especially when his pride was involved, so Team Renegades's credability would soon be nonexistant. That meant they needed somewhere to hide, but nobody knew where to go, so they needed to regroup back somewhere familiar.

"But where can we go? There isn't anywhere just sitting around..." explained Grovyle.

"...I think I've got an idea, but I'll need a distraction. Jordan?" asked Cameron.

Jordan had already gone ahead, making sure to leave no trace.

"Awesome, thanks." replied Cameron with a smirk.

Just then, the middle of Treasure Town turned into an icy snowfield. Everyone in town gathered to watch Jordan's spectacle.

"I've got this one, you guys stay back. I need a lookout." said Cameron before rushing off.

Lyla and David took their position in a nearby shrub whereas Grovyle and Tom did the same on the other side of the dirt path. Waiting for the Guild

Inside the Guild...

Cameron immediately bolted for his Team's Quarters and, upon entering the room, bolted for the Recharger. Entering the confines of which the machine could restore his health and energy, he felt something wrong. During the creation of the entire setup, Cameron had made sure to install access hatches for keeping items in storage. While he rarely used them, there was that orb he found on Mt. Bristle that was in a special hatch right above the Recharger that only Pikachus could detect them in the first place. He even went out of his way to ensure that only he could sense what was inside once he got close, but it didn't feel like the orb was in there...

"...no. It's not possible. How could she do this?" hissed Cameron under his breath.

Hoping to find the orb where he had left it, Cameron hit the secret switch located in the floor. Much to his relief, the mysterious orb was still there, but it was no longer shining; instead, it had turned a dark black.

"What the...?" whispered Cameron.

Upon investigation, the orb was pulsing out dark aura. Had it not been in its protective casing, it would've been a beacon for any rogue Riolu or Lucario to easily steal... including Tom.

"Wonder if I could-" started Cameron before he was interrupted by the sounds of footsteps.

The entire Guild was already downstairs, rushing towards him! It would only be seconds before they were on him, so Cameron did the only thing he could think of: use the orb's power to try and escape. Infusing the orb with his natural electricity charged the orb enough to return it to its state of power, allowing Cameron to use its power to transport the entire room out of the Guild.

To the Guild, however, it left a huge hole in the side of the cliff where Team Renegades's Quarters used to be. It wasn't enough to cause the entire mountain to crumble, but it still posed an issue; there was now 2 entrances to the Guild. Although this one wasn't as welcoming to Pokemon who walked, Flying-Type Pokemon could easily use this entrance to penetrate the sanctity of the Guild and some Pokemon that can Levitate or use their abilities to jump high distances could easily enter. Large Pokemon could also carry a small army of Pokemon to attack at any moment, so repairing the hole was a huge priority.

However, just as soon as the thought had entered Chatot's mind on how to best rework the schedule to protect the Guild's weak spot, the hole was immediately refilled with the room Team Renegades once inhabited, minus their belongings and divided parts of the room. It was just as vacant before Team Renegades showed up.

"...clever ****ard..." hissed Chatot.

Meanwhile, at the edge of Treasure Town, at a spot called Sharpedo Bluff...

Cameron had just finished setting up everything that he brought out of the Guild. He was exhausted from putting in so much energy into the strange orb that his brain was hard-wired for any surprise that could come his way. Knowing that his team could be in danger, he immediately reached into his Explorer Bag and pulled out a Sitrus Berry, wolfing it down in mere seconds. Once his energy was replenished, he set off to try and save his friends...

But there was no need. As soon as he stepped out of the cavern, he was swarmed by his entire Team. Everyone had made it safely out of harm's way, much to Cameron's surprise.

"Well, that was a close one..." said Jordan.

"Heh. You said it!" remarked David.

"...'s not over. They'll be looking for us." piped in Tom.

"I think that's a bit obvious. Although..." started Grovyle, who halted midsentence.

"...although WHAT? We need a plan, Grovyle!" piped up Lyla.

Cameron had walked away and was staring at a cave off to the side. It seemed as he was wondering what to do next. All of a sudden, he got up and walked to Jordan.

"Hey. Remember that relic you found?" asked Cameron.

"Uh... yeah! I've got it right here." declared Jordan, pulling out the strange relic.

Cameron just sat there, looking at the item. In his head, however, a plan had already come to light, and he was aching to tell everyone what he had in mind. It was only a bunch of speculation, but if it what he was thinking was true, he might've just figured out how to stop the destruction of time and rewrite history for this world. All he needed was his friends by his side and nothing could stop him. He proceeded to tell his Team the beginning of his plan...

So, Episode 24! I'm done with it and I'm gonna try to get my 25'th one out soon! My plan for it is gonna be an extended 5-parter so that, between chapters, you guys have plenty to read! *NOTE*: There's a good chance I prooooooooobably won't have Episode 25 by the time school starts for me (goin' back on the 26'th! Lookin' forward to seein' all of my friends in school! :D). If I don't, I hope you guys understand. (Please don't be mad at me, I'm giving this series my honest effort.)

For now, though, if you guys are looking for a story to read while you wait on Episodes from me, I recommend PokemonGalaxy1009's first Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon series, Explorers of Afterlife. It's really great and I've been reading it for about a day or 2 now. Go and give it a look if you're interested, his series is completely finished! (Shoutout to PG1009 right there! :D)

That's all I got to say! CiNos out! WHOOP-WHOOP-WHOOP-whoop-whoop-whoop-whoop!


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